Intel gets official with new Core i7, mobile chips
Intel has updated its price list with new processors, including new Core i7 chips and a bevy of mobile models.
HP m9600T features the top-of-the-line Core i7 975
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)Many gamers have been waiting for the update of the "Nehalem" Core i7, which was introduced last November. Intel's update Tuesday includes the newly minted i7-975 (8M L3 cache, 4 cores, 8 threads, 3.33GHz, 6.4 GT/s QPI). This is priced at $999.
For the uninitiated, threads effectively double the number of tasks a processor can do, GT/s stands for giga transfers per second, and QPI is Intel's new Quick Path Interconnect technology.
But there's more. The i7-950 boasts identical specifications except for a lower 3.06GHz clock speed and 4.8 GT/s. It is priced at $562.
Hewlett-Packard's m9600T tower can be configured with the i7-975 and a 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 graphics card for just over $1,900.
Other vendors such as Falcon Northwest offer decked-out systems at a big price. The Falcon Northwest Mach V is priced at more than $4,000 with 6GB of memory, 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 graphics card, and a 256GB solid-state drive.
Equally anticipated are the new Intel ULV (ultra-low-voltage) processors. Though some of these were were listed at the end of March (such as the 5-watt, single-core SU3500 and 10-watt, dual-core SU9600), the 10-watt Pentium architecture-based SU2700 (1 core, 2M Cache, 1.30 GHz, 800MHz front-side bus) is new. Intel is not listing this chip, nor is it publishing a price. Though notebooks with this chip are expected to go as low as $499, according to Intel.
Laptops using the ULV chips include the ultra-thin Asus UX30, which will feature the 1.6GHz SU9600, among other chips, and the MSI X340 X-Slim, which sports the SU3500.
Intel also listed new mainstream mobile processors, including the 35-watt T9900 (6M L2 cache, 2 cores, 2 threads, 3.06GHz, 1066MHz FSB). This goes for $530.
Also listed as new is the 28-watt P9700 (6M L2 cache, 2 cores, 2 threads, 2.80GHz, 1066MHz FSB). This lists for $348. The existing T9600 (2.8GHz) fell in price 40 percent to $316 from $530.
Brooke Crothers has been an editor at large at CNET News, an analyst at IDC Japan, and an editor at The Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, among other endeavors, including co-manager of an after-school math-and-reading center. He writes for the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
"For the uninitiated, threads effectively double the number of tasks a processor can do"
"Many gamers have been waiting for the update of the "Nehalem" Core i7, which was introduced last November."
Wrong...
Upgrading from a Core 2 will not yield any significant gains in gaming performance. Certainly not when compared to an upgrade of Graphics hardware. Modern games are far more reliant on the Gpu than the Cpu.
If you had read any of the reviews and benchmarks for the Core i7 you would know this.
The Core i7 is an excellent processor. However, we need software developers to start moving back towards software based renderers before we see gaming significantly affected by Cpu upgrades. For more info search for the interview with Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic Games.
A CPU cores can execute one and one instruction at a time and therefore only be executing in one thread at a time, even with HT, still only one thing at a time. True parallel execution requires multiples CPUs or Cores.
Even in gaming the duals have passed "good enough" awhile back and as another poster pointed out is more GPU and RAM bound than CPU anymore. So I have a feeling that a lot of these i7 chips will be sitting in a warehouse while my customers keep asking me about "bang for the buck" and those "baby laptops" (Netbooks).
People need to stop throwing "in this economy" into every argument that gets said. Netbook adoption has less to do with "this economy" than it does with changing computing needs and consumer behavior. The economy has played a relatively minor role in all of this...
PC gaming continues to shrink and as someone has mentioned its about the GPU for PC games. If you want to PC game buy a cheap Dell desktop for $499 and add a video card for another $100, which is cheaper than any custom built PC and way more convenient .
My desktop at home has been a VMware server for a few years now. The i7 wold be a nice upgrade for a home VM server.
My Core i7 at home, "not taking into account my obnoxious overclock" would cost approx 2000 - 2500. I built it for under 1200... Take into account my overclock and an equivalent system would go into the 4k range.
Also somebody mentioned high ddr3 prices. Not the case anymore. You can get 6 gigs of ddr3 for as low as 50 bucks. That's cheap...
- by darkxeno June 4, 2009 12:27 PM PDT
- Damn I read the title and thought wow they are making a i7 for laptops that's going to be a lot of cash for that sucker. Come to find out they are not, as I thought not even the fanboys are that crazy about a great chip being crippled into a laptop design. They are nice chips just too pricey for me right now.
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