Intel Prepares New Core i7-980 Processor with Locked Multiplier

Even though the LGA 1366 platform is getting closer to its retirement date, Intel still believes there is some life left in this old-timer, as it turns out that the company is actually working on developing a new edition of the Core i7-980 processor to add to its line of high-performance six-core chips.

The new CPU was discovered in the Intel Material Declaration Data Sheets (MDDS) database and carries the part number BX80613I7980, which correspond to processor number Core i7-980. In comparison, the current Core i7-980X is identified as the BX80613I7980X.

Although nothing is certain at this point, the part numbers of the two CPUs suggest that the new chip won't come as an Extreme Edition part, which means that it will feature a locked multiplier.

In addition, CPU-World also suggests that the Quick Path Interconnect link of the CPU will be limited to 2.4 GHz, or 4.8 GT/s.

Otherwise, the rest of the features will remain most probably intact and the CPU will support Hyper-Threading, Turbo Boost and the AES instruction set.

Its core speed should be set at 3.3GHz, just as the Core i7-980X, and the chip should also feature 12MB of Level 3 cache that will be shared among the six processing cores.

The launch date of the Core i7-980 is not yet known, but it usually happens within a few months after publication in the MDDS database.

Apart from this CPU, Intel also plans to add a Core i7-995X CPU to its lineup, that will be clocked at 3.6GHz and will become the company's fastest LGA 1366 chip.

It will be interesting to see just how many users will be tempted to buy LGA 1366 processors as a recently leaked company roadmap revealed that Sandy Bridge-E is expected to launch in the forth quarter of 2011.