Intel Corp. plans to speed up its enthusiast-class and high-end desktop microprocessor lineup sometime in Q2 2009. Considering the fact that Advanced Micro Devices plans to introduce its high-end Phenom II microprocessors in early January, it is nearly evident that Intel is confident of its product family.

According to documents seen by X-bit labs, Intel plans to replace the Core i7 965 Extreme Edition processor with something more powerful in Q2 2009. At the same time, the firm will also introduce a chip that will be offer higher performance than current high-end Core i7 940 central processing unit. It is likely that in the second quarter of next year Intel will also release chips that will fit between the currently available models 920 and 940 in terms of performance and price.

Sketchy, without any specifications, details about the long-planned refresh point to the fact that Intel does not want to give its arch-rival any information about its future products and is also confident in competitive advantages of its own microprocessors against incoming AMD Opteron II central processing units.

Intel Corp. did not comment on the news-story.

Initially there are three Intel Core i7/Bloomfield processors for high-performance desktops available:

• Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition at 3.20GHz for $999 (in 1000-unit quantities)
• Intel Core i7 940 at 2.93GHz for $562 (in 1000-unit quantities)
• Intel Core i7 920 at 2.66GHz for $284 (in 1000-unit quantities)

All three chips have 4 cores, 1MB L2 cache (256KB per core), 8MB unified L3 cache, triple-channel DDR3 memory controller, simultaneous multi-threading technology. The new central processing units will require Intel X58-based motherboard with LGA1366 socket as well as sophisticated CPU cooler since all chips feature 130W thermal design power.

Tags: Intel, Bloomfield, Core i7, Nehalem, 45nm