Jul 7, 2011 10:11 GMT  ·  By

Even though there is still some time left until Intel replaces its current six-core processors with chips based on the new Sandy Bridge-E architecture, the company has just announced that it will discontinue the Core i7-970 CPU.

Both the tray and boxed versions of the processor are affected by this change, but Intel's partners can still place orders for the chip until January 27, 2012.

The Santa Clara-based company will continue to ship the Core i7-970 until July 6, 2012.

The Core i7-970 was Intel's second six-core processor to be launched into the retail market and came as a more price friendly alternative to the Core i7-980 Extreme Edition that, at that time, retailed for a whopping $999 US.

Just like its predecessor, this is based on the Gulftown architecture and features six processing cores as well as 12MB of Level 3 cache memory.

Its base operating frequency is set at 3.2GHz and the Turbo Boost technology allows the CPU to reach speeds of 3.46GHz when some its cores remained inactive.

Outside of the high operating speeds and core count, the Core i7-970 also supports some of Intel's most advanced technologies, such as HyperThreading and the AES-NI instruction set, and features an on-board tri-channel memory controller.

When it was first introduced in September of 2010, the processor had a recommended retail price of $885, but, the launch of the Core i7-990X and all the other CPUs that arrived in the meantime, forced Intel to drop its price to $583 US.

More price cuts are also expected towards the end of its life as the Q1 2012 will witness the introduction of the first processors based on the Sandy Bridge-E architecture, which will take the place of the current Gulftown CPUs in Intel's lineup.