Core i7 released into the wild

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 18 Nov 2008 at 11:00

Intel has officially released its next generation of its desktop processors, the Core i7.

Read our full review of the Core i7 here

The chip giant launched the processors at an event in San Francisco claiming the they represented "Intel's biggest leap in chip design."

The family initially consists of three 45nm quad-core processors clocked at 3.2GHz, 2.93GHz and 2.66GHz, each boasting 8MB of level 3 cache.

Among its other innovations, the Core i7 sees the CPU take over memory controller functions that were previously handled by the north bridge. The processor also features a Turbo Mode, which automatically diverts voltage from less active cores to the busy one, which is then dynamically overclocked to help deal with the load.

However, the early processors are clearly being aimed at enthusiasts with average prices in the UK coming out at around £260 for the base Core i7-920 running at 2.66Ghz.