Intel's quad-core i7-740QM and i7-840QM show up on Dell laptop menu

Dell's propensity for dishing out new hardware without an announcement has struck again, though this time the company might have jumped the gun as not even Intel has yet officially acknowledged the existence of these Core i7 CPUs. The i7-740QM and its senior sibling are straight replacements for the i7-x20QM models: they retain the same cache and eight-threaded operational paradigm while jacking default and Turbo Boost clock speeds up to a maximum 3.2GHz single-core pace on the i7-840QM. Best of all? Dell's price for the 740QM is currently lower than that for its predecessor, so you might wanna order one up before somebody wakes up -- literally and figuratively -- over at Round Rock HQ.

[Thanks, Paul]

[D1Only1 Posted May 24th 2010 5:50AM]

prices in the article? please

[cdf74dc9 Posted May 24th 2010 5:54AM]

@D1Only1

Click the Dell link.

[D1Only1 Posted May 24th 2010 6:09AM]

@cdf74dc9
I would , if it wasn't was an damn slow internet connection this morning.

that , and the fact that I got spoiled on this site, they usually put price examples.

note the please in my comment :)

[Failbait Posted May 24th 2010 7:51AM]

@futurerheza
Among many other things.

[hero785 Posted May 24th 2010 6:00AM]

More power for the people. Now I want a 16" with 512GB SSD and ATI 5870 along with that core i7 840QM. Salivating

[cdf74dc9 Posted May 24th 2010 6:02AM]

@hero785

Would you like a side order of 30min battery with that?

[QwaF Posted May 24th 2010 6:10AM]

@hero785
And a wheel barrow to carry it around?


I kid.. well, not really.

[CircuitBreaker Posted May 24th 2010 9:09AM]

Oh look! A CPU upgrade paired with a completely anemic GPU... mmmmm HD 5450... graphics deliciousness :-/

nice pairing.

[r3loaded Posted May 24th 2010 6:14AM]

Wow, $600 more for an extra 2MB of cache and a ~150MHz clock boost?

I never understood Intel's CPU pricing strategy. There are plenty of other examples - dual-core Core i5 600 series chips that cost the same or more than the quad-core Core i5 750, the i7 870 and 960 that cost almost double the 860 and 930 respectively for a minor clock increase.

[QwaF Posted May 24th 2010 6:38AM]

@r3loaded

I wouldn't put it down to intel entirely, i was just looking over dell's site the other day just out of curiosity of their ridiculous pricing and an upgrade on there for an alienware pc from a i7 920 to a i7 930 was £100.

That is a 140mhz jump in clock rate for £100. To buy the CPU on its own from Intel is around £30 - £40 more than the i7 920. Overpriced as it is, but dell as put their own tax on that too. Besides, those socket 1366 chips will easily overclock to at least 3GHz on stock voltages without any extra cooling.

[Failbait Posted May 24th 2010 7:50AM]

@Both
...beause people stilll pay for it.

[r3loaded Posted May 24th 2010 1:15PM]

@QwaF Sure, Dell is responsible for upgrade price inflation (though not on Apple's scale), but for a $600 jump, Intel must take much of the blame.

There's an explanation for the 920/930 price difference - retailers are selling off their 920 stock at heavily discounted prices. Also, even though the stepping hasn't changed, Intel have improved it's overclockability and the 930 can easily hit 4.3 GHz, something that the 920 requires water for.

[Marko Posted May 24th 2010 6:55AM]

the upgrade to i7-720QM is a steal at $7.5. No, wait!

[Mike Vick Posted May 24th 2010 7:54AM]

Damn this is tight. I love Dell :) but man prices will be through the roof!!!

[netsql Posted May 24th 2010 8:12AM]

Is the mouse pad centered? No. If you want a centered mouse pad you have to get Apple.

[badasscat Posted May 24th 2010 8:57AM]

@netsql

Who cares? I have a Dell with an off-center touchpad and I didn't even notice it until I took a bunch of pictures for a blog post.

[coley501 Posted May 24th 2010 9:09AM]

@netsql
I didn't notice my touchpad was off-centre until you mentioned it just now and - shocking I know - I don't care.

[pur Posted May 24th 2010 12:13PM]

@netsql
Apple always does go for looks over functionality.

[John52 Posted May 24th 2010 11:38AM]

LOL @ Dell offering the slower i7-720QM for more money than the 740QM. Epic fail

[weeman Posted May 24th 2010 1:14PM]

Add $600...ouch!

[sinco Posted May 24th 2010 10:02PM]

@weeman
At least dell gives you an option, with apple you have to wait 1 year, and for what, for a computer that boils water.

[nlhender8 Posted May 29th 2010 3:26AM]

I found a studio 15 with the 740 CPU starting at $999.on Dell's student discount website www.dell.com/dellu Use the coupon code J3QH72D7?JV4BJ.