Immediate obsolescence is an age old problem in the computer industry, but it doesn't look like the upcoming Core i9 "Gulftown" processor is going to do anything to solve it. Word is from early benchmarks of the upcoming Intel processor is that it bests the current
Core i7 at the top of the heap with speed gains as large as 50% -- directly in line with its addition of two cores on top of the Core i7's existing four. Of course, six 2.8GHz cores aren't quite as exponentially helpful when applied to non-optimized tasks, but with most major modern software development aimed at better utilizing multiple cores, the core overkill of Core i9 will likely prove increasingly useful over time. At the start, however, Core i9's improvements will come at a premium: 130W power consumption instead of 95W in Core i7, and of course a high-end only price tag to match. Word is we'll be seeing these chips hit the market in early 2010, possibly as soon as January.
posted November 24th 2009 1:24AM
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@mianmian
I'm just waiting for the day when we have to have cores dedicated to controlling the threading of the other cores.
F**k it, I'll just wait for the Core i11 and be cool for a few years. All tech does is break balls. Exponentially.
@ThundaChunky You mean a few months right?
@ThundaChunky
Naming scheme doesn't make sense. Should be i4 for four cores, i6 for six, etc. :)
@ThundaChunky what about the i13!?
Are they serious? What happened to sticking to 1 socket for 4+ years, I've had a 775 forever, now they have Core i5, i7, and i9?! Why? When's i11 coming out?
@(Unverified)
Core i9s will have the same socket as Core i7s. LGA1366.
@(Unverified)
This chip isn't for you. If you are interested in saving money, you should get a socket 1156 chip, a Lynnfield.
You may have had a 775 forever, but it was low-performing junk for most of the time you had it, so a Lynnfield shouldn't let you down much (it outperforms my i7/920!).
Core i* isn't a socket type, and LGA 775 hasn't been out 'forever'. I would have accepted Socket 478 though, it's been around about twice as long and you can STILL get new motherboards and CPUs for it. I doubt LGA 775 will have that much lifespan.
You should go complain to AMD or nVidia that you have to get a new board every time you upgrade the CPU on you video card.
@(Unverified) i5 uses socket lga 1156, i7 uses lga 1156 and lga 1366, i9 uses lga 1366. This does not have a new socket.
@(Unverified) It uses the same LGA1366 socket as Core i7, no need to worry about this one. Although I do agree that there's just no need for LGA1156 - do a cheap socket 775 version if necessary, or do full triple channel LGA1366 for the high end.
Saw gulftown a bit ago on xtremesystems forums. Pretty nice lookin stuff, and that is coming from an AMD fanboi.
Man, by the rate Intel keeps improving their designs with the Tick Tock, and how far out AMD's next core is (late 2011 I think?) AMD looks like they will have a hard time staying afloat. At least ATI is doing well for them.
@Rizzo
You are aware AMD has had a 6 core cpu out for some time now, right? These are only gonna be in servers and supercomputing for quite some time now, so you don't need to worry your pretty little consumerist head yet.
Sorry buddy, but I know about Shanghai, thanks... And i9 = consumer product whereas xenon xxxx = servers/supercomputers. So i9 gulftown is, in fact, coming to consumers very soon. Thanks for trying to teach me something though.
@(Unverified) and you do realize that those 6 core opterons are for server use only pretty much(i doubt anyone would thro one fo thsoe ina home box) and that that their intel counterparts are still woopin their butts?
Glad I bought a Classified board
@Lowest Ranks
Same i knew spending money on that beast of a board would pay off.
95W? Whaddya talking about? All the socket 1366 i7s (9xx) were already 130W TDP, like my 920. It's the i7/8xx series that is 95W.
So I could replace my 920 with this baby and break even power wise, and allegedly anyone else with a Socket 1366 Nehelem could too.
What are you talking about?
This is a socket 1366 chip. As I said, Socket 1366 i7s (the 9xx series) are 130W TDP. It's the socket 1156 i7s (the 800 series) that are 95W, but that's not relevant since this chip doesn't go in that socket. So if you put in this chip, you're not raising your system's TDP since your system must have had a 130W chip before or this one wouldn't fit in it.
@Dojomann i7 is both 1366 and 1156
@Dojomann i7 is both 1366 and 1156
i7 is both 1366 and 1156
@password
bad way to start off, man
Aww look. It runs Crysis.
@Edobe No, it can run pacman, u dumbass
I'm curious to see what the single and dual core turbo boost numbers are for this chip.
The 870 can hit 3.46GHz on two cores. That's 45nm chip with a TDP of 95W.
This is a 32nm part with 130W of TDP to play with.
I see the distinction between LGA 1156 and 1366 Core i7s confused even Engadget. The lga 1366 9xx i7s have always been 130W; the lga1156 8xx i7s are 95W. This iX naming isn't helping Intel much is it?
Yeah, let's all just keep waiting for the next big thing! If we do that we'll never actually get anything.
"Word is we'll be seeing these chips hit the market in early 2010, possibly as soon as January."
I wonder if that's when the Mac Pros regain their edge over the iMac line
@snugs
Mac Pros always have the edge in the pro world, but for Mom & Dad macfan, the 27" core i7 imac will keep them happy for a long time!
Cant wait to upgrade all my production Mac Pro's and xServes to dual i9's! 24 "cores" in each box! Saaaa-weeeet!
@snugs
4 cores on a 2.8GHz Xeon processor perform better then two cores on a 3.2GHz C2D chip.
I expect the Mac Pro will get updated in January like it has every January the last few years. It will support the new i9 chips.
I'll take my 2008 Penryn quad 2.8GHz Mac Pro over an iMac any day.
@snugs
Mac Pros have had dual quad Nehelem Xeons for a while now. iMacs just got i5/i7 chips. I'm pretty sure 8 cores/16 threads @ 2.93Ghz with Turbo Boost up to 3.33Ghz would smoke an iMac.
@(Unverified)
Imagine that. four cores are faster than two.
I hope you don't think that has anything to do with the xeon moniker.
The new i7 are such a huge jump over core 2 quads, that it makes sense, but to the six core i9? No thanks...the cost is too high.
Any chance that these beasts will be any where near reasonably priced (
@ChaosEntity
Why'd my comment get cut off?
I meant to say: Any chance these beasts will be less than $300 each? I was hoping to build a new computer this summer...
@ChaosEntity
if you're looking for "reasonably priced" I'd suggest going for i5
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0317379
Im gonna get an 1366 i7 when the i9 comes out
@ChaosEntity
Prices will drop in H2 2010 when they introduce the other gulftown models but I wouldn't expect the first Core i9 with anything less than a $1k price tag
Yes i will finally be able to afford that q9650 i've had my Eye on, being behind the curve saves technology from the graveyard
I don't like the numbering scheme! My OCD makes me hate odd numbers, and they don't mean anything anyway! Odd numbers don't look cool, they look like just barely not enough! Computers don't like odd numbers anyway! Odd numbers are not cool...
With that out of my system, I am just going to wait until I can get a 32nm chip for around $300 or less, and hopefully not with an odd number or Apple designator in the name.
(it's the 'i' if you didn't get the Apple reference, dummo)
These Core i5/i7/ix processors are just amazing. Alas, many manufactures are keeping them as the premium higher priced lineup. When can I get a Core i7 PC for $400? Oh well, I guess I'll look for a Core 2 Quad instead. :(
@pika2000
$400? that's like 50 in real money, that's overdoing it.
@pika2000
Building your own PC unfortunately looks like the way to get a good deal on Core i7 so far. In theory, you can do it starting around $600, less if you've got a few components you can keep from your old PC.
$600 with old parts and self-built? No thanks. I can simply order a Dell i5 PC for $699 instead. Sure, it's no i7, but it's brand new with warranty and pre-built, and I don't have to break a sweat. I start seeing Core 2 quad PCs for around $500. .
Still hoping for $400 i7 PC. The stagnant competition from AMD seems to slow down the price war.
@password
Hope its your last post ever too.
First batch will of course have some hardware flaw, probably a math issues again, or some interlink flaw, but after that it's going to be nice.
Such is technology too.
Oh yeah!!! It's time to upgrade my 920. From what I read in the review these are backward compatible with old X58 mobos so hopefully just a bios update will do.
It's funny that Engadget keeps confusing the 1366 i7 with the baby 1156 which only now found its way in Macs.
@sibyy
Feel like tossing me the 920?;)