Saturday, May 30th 2009
Intel to Cannibalize Core i7 920 / 940
Prepare to bid farewell to the $400 Core i7 upgrade dream. Chip major Intel is reportedly planning to discontinue some of the relatively affordable Core i7 processors, including the most commercially successful model, the 920. Cannibalizing the Core i7 920 and 940, will create market headroom for the company's upcoming Core i5 "Lynnfield" processors. Internal analysis reportedly show that the high-end Lynnfield processors perform too close to the lower models of Core i7, and that could potentially affect sales of those high-end Core i5 chips. Perhaps Intel is trying to oil the segment to make the most profits. Sources at motherboard manufacturers tell that the companies are already working on adjusting their X58 product lines to cater to the future lines of Core i7 processors, which, may start with the $649 Core i7 950 and beyond. What's more, 950 is expected to get the axe later down the line. It may have certainly been a good couple of quarters for you, saving for triple channel memory, true dual PCI-E x16 motherboards, and the elusive Core i7 920. You may want to execute your plans now, or change them.
Source:
bit-tech.net
175 Comments on Intel to Cannibalize Core i7 920 / 940
Why is everyone so shocked. I saw this coming a mile away. Just wait, several of the higher end Core 2 Quads will be killed off soon as well.
This is just bad for the consumers all around. 3 different sockets, no interchangeability among them, no clue as to which will be continued in the future, and overlapping performance removing good products from the market.
I will be honest, my next upgrade will be AMD 955, but I am not a fanboy so I will not start a defense rant here. The i7 920 was a great product with just about perfect price point. i7's only real weakness was the expense of the Intel chipsets and the random lawsuit mess with Nvidia about their i7 solution. Between the crap they started with Nvidia and the i5 were just bad decisions in my opinion. An i5 is little more than a deliberately crippled i7, so why change the socket? I was going with an i7 920 for a while, but after all that mess, I just can't help them dick people.
What's more, the i5 chip will sell for under $200 ($196 to be precise). P55 motherboards shouldn't be as expensive as X58, and dual-channel DDR3 is cheaper anyway.
But honestly guys if I had bought an i7 I would be extremely happy still. Even if I lost an upgrade path. Why? Because the i7 is so damn fast by the time you NEED to upgrade it will be time for a whole new system anyway.
I wouldnt sweat this news. I rocked a 939 less than a year ago. It still runs great and runs every game on the market.........AMD FTW! :laugh:
Iianm the SLI license only for X58..
Earlier you were going from your existing $280 i7 920 to a $550 i7 940 or the $1000 i7 965XE. Now the next upgrade will be to $650 (950), and the $1000 (975 XE), and beyond. So you see, the upgrade path isn't badly affected. 920 is awesome. If I already have a 920, I wouldn't spend another ~$400 moving to another chip that still has locked bus multiplier albeit a few notches higher. The elusive ~$1000 Extreme Edition is always there. If you want to go i7 and have already saved $270+, at least buy the chip and hoard it till you can buy memory and motherboard later. Otherwise, go Core i5. For $200, get nearly what i7 920 offers. The upgrade path however, ends at the 2.93 GHz ~$600 chip.
Big Deal Bundle #2 – $129 (USD)
* Intel® Core™ i7 920 processor
* Windows Vista Ultimate* (64-bit edition)
* Upgrade voucher to receive Windows 7* (64-bit edition) upon its release
Or for $289 I can get this:
Big Deal Bundle #1 – $289 (USD)
* Intel® Core™ i7 920 processor
* Intel® Desktop Board DX58SO
* Windows Vista Ultimate* (64-bit edition)
* Upgrade voucher to receive Windows 7* (64-bit edition) upon its release