If you are among those users whose high-end desktop computer systems are
based on one of Intel's quad-core processors, then you should know that your
high-performance CPU will soon pale in comparison to what
Intel is about to release, namely the 6-core Dunnington processors. The new
6-core CPU should be officially announced on the 14th of September, according to
the company roadmap. The lineup will include three new models, the Xeon X7460,
E7450 and low-wattage L7455. As a matter of fact, each of these new CPUs is part
of the company's extreme and mainstream segments, respectively. The highest
performance model will sport a maximum core speed of 2.67GHz, 130W TDP (Thermal
Design Power) and 16MB of L3 cache, while the mainstream E7450 model will
provide a core frequency of 2.4GHz and 90W for the TDP. The L7455 has been
designed to provide a much lower TDP of 65W and a clock speed of 2.13GHz.
Regarding pricing, the Xeon X7460 and the Xeon L7455 will be priced at $2729,
while the E7450 model will have a price point of $2301. Due to the fact that
Intel will be the first to release the six-core processors, it will most
certainly gain an important market segment, as AMD is expected to drop its
6-core Istanbul server processors no sooner than the second half of 2009.
