Leaked slides from Intel’s mobile processor roadmap show the Core i7 remains star of the show, hitting 2.8GHz in a standard dual-core chassis and 1.46GHz in ULV versions.
Computex 2010 | Intel’s dual-core Core i7 nudges ever closer to the 3GHz mark, with slides from the chipmaker’s ‘mobile platform roadmap’ – which ironically leaked out as company held its two-day “Intel@Computex 2010” press event – showing a series of speed bumps for the Core i7 as well as the Core i5.
In Q3 the current quad-core mobile flagship 1.6GHz Core i7-920XM Extreme Edition gets supplanted by the 2.13GHz i7-940XM .
The quad-core 1.73GHz i7-820QM and 1.6GHz i7-720QM also step aside for the 1.87GHz i7-840QM and 1.73GHz i7-740QM.
Each of these lines remains the same through to year’s end, after which they’ll be updated – alone with the rest of the mobile line-up – by the Core 2011 processor family built on Intel’s native 32nm Sandy Bridge microarchitecture and the Huron River platform.
Processors in Intel’s ‘power optimised performance’ line get their muscle make-over in Q4. The 2.8GHz Core i7-640M (up from the 2.66GHz i7-620M) ramps to 3.46GHz in turbo mode but retains the same 35W power envelope of the i7-620M, making it a potential drop-in upgrade for thin performance laptops like the MacBook Pro.
The new Core i5-580M and Core i5-560M will both clock at 2.66GHz but have differing ‘Turbo Boost’ ceilings of 3.33GHz and 3.2GHz respectively.
There’s also plenty of action for chips aimed at thin and light laptops. Q4 sees the release of the low-voltage 2.26GHz Core i7-660LM with a 25 watt overhead.
There are also rev-head but power-sipping 18 watt chips lining up for ‘ultra-thin performance’ notebooks. The Core i7 line gains the 1.46GHz (2.53GHz in turbo mode) i7-680UM and 1.33GHz (2.13GHz turbo) i7-660UM.
The cheaper Core i5-560UM runs at 1.33GHz in regular mode and spikes to 2.13GHz when there’s heavy lifting to be done.
On the strictly official front, Intel has announced its first unlocked and overclock-friendly Core processors aimed at the mainstream market instead of gaming enthusiasts.
The Core i7-875k and Core i5-655k provide unlocked access to the same trio of processor cores, DDR3 memory and power as the flagship Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition 3.3GHz CPU.
Sure, they’ve got fewer cores and less cache – and their starting speed is also a little lower, with the i5-655k at a nominal 3.2GHz (throttling up to 3.46GHz in Turbo Mode) and the i7-875k at 2.93GHz and a needle-bending turbo boost to 3.6GHz.
But at US$216 for the i5-655k and US$342 for the i7-875k, that’s well under the Core i7-980X’s $999 sticker.
AnandTech serves up benchmarks for the new unlocked ‘k-kids’ on the block and notes that Intel says these are not aimed at “die-hard overclockers, but instead at system builders who can utilize the unlocked core features to provide cheap pre-overclocked systems with minimal fuss.”
“In the same vein, the K-series will allow users to purchase cheap motherboards that don’t need overly complex BIOS options as we only need control of core multiplier ratios and VCore to get a quick and easy overclock.”
David Flynn is visiting Computex 2010 in Taipei as a guest of Intel.