Intel Core i7 processors hit online retailers
The Intel Core i7 processor is being bid up at online retailers--about a week before its official launch.
Though Intel isn't slated to launch the Core i7 processor until November 17, processors are ready for order at online retailers. The Core i7 represents the vanguard of Intel's new Nehalem microarchitecture.
PC Connection is selling the 2.66GHz Intel i7-920 processor with 8MB of cache memory for $334. The sales status is currently "on order." The official pricing from Intel--its pricing will likely be updated early next week--is expected to be lower at about $285 for the 920.
Falcon Northwest's Mach V PC will use the Core i7
(Credit: Falcon Northwest)Stepping up to the i7-940, PC Mall is hawking the 2.93GHz "BOX CORE I7 940" for a pre-order price of $722. PC Connection lists it for $661. Intel's list price is expected to be approximately $560.
The higher prelaunch street prices are not surprising as this reflects pent-up demand for the product.
The high-end 3.2GHz 965 "Extreme" version of the i7 is available at various e-tailers, ranging in price from $1,090 to $1,300. Intel pricing should be just less than $1,000.
Want to get a taste of the i7's performance? CNET Reviews gushed that the Falcon Northwest Mach V tower system with a Core i7-965 is the "fastest all-around desktop we've tested to date; first PC to hit 60 frames per second on our high-resolution Crysis test; pristine build quality."
And the downside to Mach V tower? It's priced at more than $8,000.
Brooke Crothers has served as an editor at large at CNET News, an editor at Dow Jones' Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, and a senior editor at InfoWorld. His CNET blog covers chip technology and computer systems, and how they define the computing experience. He also contributes to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. Follow Brooke on Twitter @mbrookec. 
Games are fun and all, but is this really the best use for a brand new super chip? Video games? Really?
I think there are some misplaced priorities here.
Gamers demand the most from just about any system, the manufacturer fills this need. Gamers pay top dollar for it. Later, after gamer demand has waned, the Save The Otters Foundation can come in and get them for cheap. If the otters were really that important, the Save The Otters Foundation would be driving demand. But they are not.
How about this? You buy me one and I promise I will put it to good use. ;)
Sorry for the bitterness. But, it drives me nuts when people think they know what is the best use for any particular resource.
with that equipment inside, pc's are the same exact price. mac pro's are expensive because they are not desktop computers, they are high end workstations not with crappy core2 quads but with xeons in them... geez, server high end equipment is expensive both in pcs and macs
so please stop with the "macs are overpriced", "macs don't have a second mouse button", etc. already
Hmm... my current computer turns 1 year old in January. Should I build a new machine with an i7 at this time? It's enticing!
The limiting factor is the video card(s). SLI gave almost exactly double the frame rates.
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTU4MCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
- by vminvic November 12, 2008 5:58 PM PST
- There is presently no more demanding task for a personal computer CPU than GAME IMAGE RENDERING. Nothing any normal user (business applications, photoshop, net surfing, Multimedia decode/playback) does is as processor intensive. Sounds "silly" that games are the number crunching pinnacle - but true. A lot of data has to handled and be done with in 1/60 th of a second, while the operating system is still doing its usual administration. Thats why special high power gaming video cards are all the rage. Idea is to offload most of the work to a specialized , ultrafast, separate computer on a board. A game is one heck of a good "benchmark" test.
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