14 DAY TRIAL // There is only one pair of as-of-yet unreleased products which has been seeing almost, or as much, attention as DirectX 11 graphics cards and Intel's Core CPUs. While the powerful GPUs from AMD and the strong but power efficient processors from Intel are on consumers' minds because of their actuality and real benefits, there are two upcoming releases which are just as enthralling, namely the six-core CPUs that the two rivals plan to launch. Most recent in the string of reports and rumors is one that seems to reveal the two processors' actual roadmaps.
The IT industry has known about the development of AMD's Thuban and Intel's Gulftown for some time. Still, until recently, no truly exact details were known about when and where they are to be released. All the reports about the AMD hexacore have so far held very few details on the actual specs of the chip. On Intel's product, however, the reports were significantly richer in details. Most recently, Digitmes reported that the actual roadmaps for both chips had been revealed by motherboard makers.
Intel will start off its hexacore line with the Core i7-980X. So far, what is known about this CPU, among other things, is that it is supposedly based on the 32nm manufacturing process, has an L3 cache memory of 12MB and is compatible with X58 Express chipsets, provided they undergo a BIOS update. Of course, the processor will boast Hyper-Threading and the Intel Turbo Boost technologies. The Gulftown is expected to cost around $1000.
Unlike Intel's, product AMD's upcoming Phenom II X6 1075T, 1055T and 1035T will be built on the 45nm process instead of the 32nm. The company will launch the compatible 890FX (RD890) and 890GX(RS880D) chipsets a month in advance, which will be paired with the SB850 southbridge. In addition, the six-core line will be accompanied by a new quad-core processor, namely the Phenom II X4 960T. Unfortunately, the price tags of AMD's chips are still a mystery.
Both AMD and Intel refused to comment on unannounced products.