Rumor Mill: Calpella to Debut on September 23

Intel, the world's leading vendor of computer processors, is expected to announce new products, by the end of this year, as the company is getting ready to update its portfolio with the next generation of desktop and mobile platforms. According to the most recent details that have surfaced on the Internet, the Santa Clara, California-based chip maker will introduce its much-anticipated “Calpella” platform for high-performance notebooks in late September. The platform will provide notebook vendors with a choice for increased performance laptops, designed to take advantage of Intel's latest Nehalem microarchitecture, already available for the company's line of desktop CPUs.

In addition to the highly anticipated Lynnfield processors and P55 platform, Intel is expected to introduce its equally anticipated Calpella platform, which will set the start of a new era in mobile processors for the world's leading chip maker. These new parts are designed for high-end laptops and will take advantage of the company's Nehalem microarchitecture. According to recent details on the Internet, the launch of said platform is now expected to occur in approximately one month, on September 23.

Calpella will debut with Intel's new PM55 chipset and will include three 45nm quad-core processors, which will be compatible with the company's mPGA-989 socket. This first wave of Nehalem-based CPUs (codenamed Clarksfield), will include the 1.6GHz Core i7 720QM, the 1.8GHz 780QM and the 920XM, which will be clocked at 2.9GHz, reports indicate.

The first will be priced at US$364 and will also boast 6MB of L3 cache, an integrated dual-channel DDR3-1333 memory controller (IMC) and a TDP of 45W. The faster 780QM will feature the same IMC and TDP but will deliver an increased 8MB of L3 cache and will become available for US$546. The new mobile flagship, the Core i7 920XM, will boast a TDP of 55W and will be priced at US$1,054, which will clearly make a choice for the highest-performance gaming laptops.

One of the main features on the new processors is Intel's Turbo Mode technology, which will enable them to reach core speeds of 2.8GHz, 3GHz and 3.2GHz, respectively.