Intel's Core i7-990X hits the market officially

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 17 February 2011, 22:51 IST
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Bangalore: Intel has started selling a new chip- Core i7-990X that out performs the 980X. It is suppose to be the fastest processor in consumer's desktop with six chips in one chip. It is basically made for high-end laptops and desktops and Intel will charge it for $999 ( 45,500 approximately) for 1,000 units. Core i7-990X belongs to what Intel calls "Extreme Edition Chipset" family. The new chipset can work with LGA 1366 motherboards as well as other motherboards. The pricing of new chipset is the same as for its predecessor. Intel is slashing the prices of the old chipsets belonging to the same Extreme Edition Chipset family. Six core Core i7 970 by 34 percent bringing it down to $583 ( 26,532 approximately) and the quad core Core i7-960 by 48 percent which puts it at $294 ( 13,379 approximately). Apart from the features like splendid speed of 3.46 GHz and Turbo Boost 3.73 GHz, Core i7-990X is almost identical to older 980X. The 990X remains a six core multi-threaded CPU which leaves with twelve threads in total. It has 12 MB of cache and is based on the 32 nm fabrication process with a max TDP of 130 W. Company is expected to unveil its new high-end platform for enthusiasts based on the LGA 2011 socket by fourth quarter of 2011. The new chips based on this socket will support SandyBridge E-series processors and also feature quad-core memory controllers.