New 32nm Intel CPU Coming in Q1 2011, Six CPUs Get Cheaper

The new generation of Sandy Bridge processors is coming in fast, and while price cuts for existing CPUs may not be a very big oddity in such condition, Intel seems to also be preparing a new Pentium CPU based on the 32nm process.

According to a report made by CPU World, the new line of CPUs with integrated graphics is not the only set of chips scheduled for a Q1, 2011 release.

What Intel has in store in the Pentium G6960, a dual-core chip with 3 MB of L3 cache memory, an integrated DDR3 memory controller and a clock speed of 2.93 GHz.

The central processor will also have a TDP of 73W and an integrated graphics core of its own, probably clocked at 533 MHz.

The chip has not been priced yet, but will work on LGA 1156 motherboards, although said platforms will require a BIOS update.

The coming of the Pentium G6960 is not all the news coming from Intel's side of the field, however.

Apparently, the Santa Clara, California-based CPU developer did something else as well, namely cut the prices of six of its processors.

The components in question are the Core i7-640LM and i7-660UM, the Core i3-550, the Pentium E6700, E6500 and the Celeron E3400.

The Celeron dropped from its previous price point of $53 to the current $42, while the Core i3-350 decreased to $117 from $138.

Likewise, the Core i7 640LM fell from $332 to $311, while the Core i7-660UM was driven down to $289, its previous tag being of $317.

Finally, the Pentium E6700 and E6500 went down to $75 and $64 from their previous prices of $86 and $75, respectively.

All in all, it seems that Intel is setting the stage for the holiday season while also preparing the market for the arrival of its next-generation desktop and mobile platform.