14 DAY TRIAL // Originally expected to arrive in the fourth quarter of 2011, Intel's high-performance Sandy Bridge-E desktop processors have been pushed back to Q1 2012, according to a recent report that just hit the Web.
The delay hasn't been confirmed by Intel, but VR-Zone states that they were informed about this roadmap change by a “very reliable source.”
No reasons were given, but the only valid explanations would be that Intel has decided to focus its resources on the upcoming LGA-2011 and LGA-1356 Xeon processors, which have higher profit margins.
From what we know at this time the initial Sandy Bridge-E launch will include three desktop models, two fully unlocked CPUs with six computing cores and one quad-core partially unlocked processor.
The fastest of the two six-core processors has a base frequency of 3.3GHz, includes 15MB of Level 3 cache memory and its maximum Turbo Boost speed is rated at 3.9GHz, while its smaller brother is clocked at 3.2GHz and packs “only” 12MB of L3 cache.
The third chip in the product family, the quad-core Sandy Bridge-E CPU, has a base frequency of 3.6GHz and comes equipped with 10MB of L3 cache.
All three processors use the LGA 2011 socket and require motherboards based on the Intel X79 Express chipset, code named Patsburg.
This will use a simple PCH design, as most of the functionality usually found inside the north bridge (ie. PCI Express controller) was embedded into the Sandy Bridge-E chips.
According to previous Intel internal estimates, these processors were supposed to account for 1%-2% of the company's desktop CPU shipments by volume in the second half of 2011, so the presumed delay isn't expected to affect the company's profits too much.
To put things in perspective, the current Sandy Bridge chips will represent half of Intel's shipments in the same period of time.
Sandy Bridge-E isn't Intel's only processor to be delayed, as just a month ago the Santa Clara chip giant announced that Ivy Bridge was pushed back to March/April 2012 from its previous Q1 2012 launch date.
Furthermore, AMD also seems to be in the same boat as Intel, as the first Bulldozer-based desktop CPUs, which were expected to arrive this June, are now scheduled for an August/September launch.