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Today Intel is releasing a number of new affordable Core i5 and Core i3 desktop processors, which are the first ever to include a built-in GPU. They are also the first processors to be manufactured using the 32nm design process, making them even more efficient than existing products. So get ready, as we show you exactly what they are all about... The Intel Pentium D 955 Extreme Edition was an exciting processor when it was released and not because of its 3.46GHz clock speed or the ludicrous $1000 US price tag that was associated with it. Rather this was an exciting processor as it marked the introduction of the 65nm design process and it was the first to do so on January 16th, 2006.  Almost 2 years later, on November 11th 2007, Intel released another exciting processor that marked the introduction of the 45nm design process with the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650. This was another extreme edition type processor that was again priced at a crazy $1000 US. Today marks another exciting processor launch from Intel as they introduce the world’s first 32nm processors codenamed “Westmere” a little over 2 years after releasing the first 45nm processor. However unlike the Pentium D 955 EE and Core 2 Extreme QX9650 processors which both featured an introductory price of $1000, the new 32nm processors that we will be showing you today cost less than $200. Rather than introduce the latest manufacturing process with their most elite processors, Intel will be demonstrating it with some affordable dual-core processors. In fact, Intel is releasing more than a dozen new 32nm processors today, which will include five Core i7 mobile processors, four Core i5 mobile and four desktop processors, along with two Core i3 desktop and two mobile processors. Also being released are four new mobile chipsets and three new desktop chipsets to support all these new processors. With so many new 32nm Westmere processors being released today, it is interesting to note that there are no quad-core parts. Furthermore, as it stands Intel appears to have none planned for 2010 at all. That said, Intel is scheduled in the later part of the first quarter in 2010 to release the six-core Gulftown (32nm) series of extreme high-end processors which will be branded Core i7 980X. This CPU will become, and remain throughout 2010, Intel’s (and possibly the world’s) highest performance desktop CPU. Currently the Westmere microarchitecture is made up of two groups, one targeting desktop computing and the other mobile. The mobile parts go by the codename “Arrandale” while the desktop processors that we are looking at today have been given the codename “Clarkdale”. As it stands there are three processor families under the Clarkdale codename which includes the Core i5 6xx, Core i3 5xx and the yet to be announced Pentium G6xxx series. Let’s move on to check out each processor series in more detail... |
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