Insiders at mainboard builders today revealed some of the details for the six-core processors from AMD and Intel. The latter will take the bow first and is now believed certain to launch the Core i7-980X in March. It’s known to run at 3.33GHz and will be a very high end chip with 12MB of cache. Pricing may reach over $1,000, however, and would reserve it for gaming PCs and performance workstations.
AMD’s plans for its Thuban architecture will take more time, with new models arriving in May, but will aim considerably lower and cover more mainstream users. They will start with the Phenom II X6 line and include three models, the 1075T, 1055T and 1035T. Their clock speeds are an unknown but should allow for significantly less expensive prices. Two mainboard chipsets, the 890FX and the graphics-equipped 890GX, would ship in April to clear the way.
An extra quad-core chip, the Phenom II X4 960T, should ship simultaneously.
