There's about one year waiting time until the next-generation Nehalem processor are due to appear, but Intel is going to deliver the creme de la creme no sooner than the first half of 2009. Intel readies a new desktop and mobile CPU series to integrate graphics cores.

The gaming sector will enjoy the first Nehalem processors at the end of next year. There are a few specifications that leaked out, but much more question marks. One thing is for sure, that the Bloomfields (the codename for Nehalem) is going to be wrapped around the 45-nanometer technology, just like the recent Core 2 Extreme 'Penryn' processors.

We do not know what to expect from Bloomfields in terms of speeds, but the CPU is supposed to use a new, 1366-pin interconnect, that is the foundry for the QuickPath bus to link all the four cores. As if it was not enough, each core will feature an older Intel technology, HyperThreading (HT), available since the Prescott era. This way, the four cores would rather act like eight.

The first half of 2009 will bring another nifty creation from Intel: Lynnfield, that is alleged to adopt PCI Express as the chip-to-chip bus while the interconnect is going to be cut down to 1160 LGA pins. It will also be a quad-core featuring HyperThreading and 8MB of L2 cache, but will support DDR3 in dual-channel mode only. The CPU will incorporate a PCI Express controller that would allow it to link directly to a x16 graphics card.

Intel is going to release a mobile chip too, that would bear the 'Auburndale' codename and will inherit the Cleaksfield/Clarksfield architecture. However, Auburndale is going to be a dual-core product, that will feature an integrated GPU, as well as a directly connected video memory buffer.