Six-Core Intel Core i7-980 Breathes Life Into the LGA 1366 Platform

Intel may be focusing on getting its Sandy Bridge processors sold but it looks like it hasn't given up on the previous generation of units and chipsets, in this case the Gulftown six-core line.

Intel has definitely not been slacking off recently, even if some of its plans did get changed over the past month.

While the Ivy Bridge series of processors is set to be delayed by several months, the supercomputing segment might just see a higher degree of aggressiveness on the company's part.

That said, although the chip giant is now doing its best to get its Sandy Bridge products to sell, it hasn't given up on the previous-generation platform either.

In fact, it looks like one of those very previous-generation chips is about to start selling, come to replace a certain Core i7-970 unit.

The Core i7-970 was launched about a year ago and will hand over its role in the market and machines to the Core i7-980.

The processor is designed for the LGA 1366 socket and has six cores, plus 12 MB of cache, these being the similarities it bears with its predecessor.

It is unclear is demand for this unit still exists and it is questionable whether anyone will be interested in it, considering that the X79-ready Sandy Bridge E series will come to market in a few months.

Mainboards with support for this future batch of units have already been released or detailed, but such IT entities as EVGA, ASRock, MSI, etc.

Intel can't be accused of not trying to make the chip as appealing as possible, however, as the processing power of 3.33 GHz (970 had 3.2 GHz) is nothing to scoff at, neither is the 25X multiplier.

Once sales begin (on June 26, 2011), those interested in it will have to part with the sum of $583.