14 DAY TRIAL // The Core i7-990X Extreme Edition processor has been expected by many to be launched during the first quarter of 2011, and, although Intel didn't make any official announcements regarding this chip, the CPU has appeared in two of HP's top of the line desktops as an upgrade option.
Just as previous leaks have suggested, the Core i7-990X is a six-core, 12 thread SKU, comes clocked at 3.46GHz and can run at up to 3.73GHz thanks to Intel's Turbo Boost technology that raises the frequency of the processor, depending on its load.
In addition, the chip features 12MB of shared L3 cache, has a TDP of 130W and is built using the company's 32nm manufacturing process.
Its integrated memory controller can support up to 24GB of DDR3 1066MHz memory.
According to the CPU World website, the Core i7-990X made its appearance in HP Pavilion Elite 580t and 590t systems as an upgrade option.
Both desktops offer the user a wide series of Core i7 900-series processors from which to choose, the Pavilion Elite 590t coming with Core i7-970 and i7-980X CPUs, besides the newly introduced 990X.
The 580t adds a few other lower priced processors to the list, namely the Core i7-930, the i7-960, and the i7-975 Extreme Edition.
The Pavilion Elite 580t and 590t support up to 24 GB of DDR3 memory and can provide a maximum of 4TB of storage as well as RAID 0/1 support.
Furthermore, the systems can be configured with high-performance ATI and NVIDIA video cards, an optional TV tuner card, and Sound Blaster sound.
HP Pavilion Elite 580t starts at $999.99 and includes a Core i7-930 CPU, 8GB RAM, 750 GB hard drive, DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive, and 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5450 graphics, the addition of an Core i7 990X raising the price to $1999.99.
HP's other machine, the Pavilion Elite 580t, start at $1,699.99 and comes configured with a Core i7-970 CPU, 9GB RAM, 1.5 TB SATA 3Gb/s drive, 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5570 video card, and Blu-ray player / SuperMulti DVD burner.
Going for an Intel i7-990X processor raises the price to $2049.99.