LOOKING FOR A cheap Intel processor? Well, Intel is getting ready to launch a range of new affordable options over the next few months, as well as some price drops on several other models. A few more expensive parts will also make an appearance, with emphasis on ‘few’. Most of the new and price cut models are oddly enough LGA 775 processors, so it seems like Intel believes there’s still some life in its old platform.
Let’s start with the higher-end models. The Core i5 760 is set to launch tomorrow according to HKEPC who’s kindly compiled all the data. The launch price for this 2.8GHz quad core CPU is set to be $205 which is a mere $9 than the Core i5 750. On the 29th of August we’ll see a price drop for the Core i7 950 from $562 to a much more affordable $294. Apart from that it looks like Intel doesn’t have much planned between now and mid-October for this market segment.
Moving down to Intel’s Core i3 processors, the Core i3 560 is set to launch on the 29th of August with a price of $138. It’s 130MHz faster than the Core i3 550, but that’s also the only difference. The Core i3 550 will in turn have its priced reduced on the 17th of October to $117, down from $138.
Then we got a bunch of changes in Intel’s line of Pentium processors. For starters, the E5500 will be reduced from $75 to $64 tomorrow and this is followed by the introduction of the 3GHz E5700 on the 8th of August for $75, with a further price drop of this CPU as soon as the 17th of October to $64. The E6700 will be reduced to $75 on that same date. The 3.33GHz E6800 will be introduced on the 29th of August for $86.
Finally we have a new Celeron, the 2.7GHz E3500 which is set to launch on the 29th of August for $52. This leads to a price reduction of the Celeron E3400 on the 17th of October to $42.
Overall there isn’t that much interesting going on in the desktop CPU market at the moment and it feels like Intel is just biding time until Q1 of 2011 when its LGA 1155 desktop platform is set to launch. That’s of course unless Intel for some reason decides to move the launch forward, which isn’t entirely unthinkable, as it looks like most of their board partners are ready. What we don’t know is if Intel will have that processor ready earlier than planned and even so, would Intel consider launching the platform early.S|A
Lars-Göran Nilsson
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