Intel Cuts Prices of Various Desktop Processors

1/2 price cut on the Core i7 870, which was obviously priced too high even when it was launched. It's a bit sad for those people who bought the 870 a few months ago and now lose so much of resell value.

Intel has formalized a wide range of price cuts and changes for processor models from across various segments and platforms. The most noteworthy of these include addition of new SKUs, and repositioning (price-cuts) of certain SKUs. To begin with, Intel formally introduced the Core i7 970 six-core desktop processor. This "non-XE" model comes with a clock speed of 3.20 GHz, and Turbo speeds of 3.43 GHz, and is based on the 32 nm Gulftown die. Earlier expected to be in the $500~$600 range by sections of the press, the SKU is positioned at $885, a mere $115 cheaper than the Core i7 980X Extreme Edition (which is priced at $999).

Most of the action lies in the LGA1156 platform, with the Core i7 870 getting a massive 47.6% price cut, sending its price plummeting down to $294, from $562. This cut may have been influenced by the Core i7 875K, which is a multiplier-unlocked SKU which is priced just a little under $350, with the same clock speeds as the i7 870. Interestingly, no price changes for the i7 860 were noted. An energy-efficient variant of the i7 870, the 870s, was introduced, it is priced at $351.

The Core i5 760 is another new entry, this processor carries the same clock speeds as the i7 860 (2.80 GHz), except that it doesn't come with HyperThreading Technology, and its northbridge is clocked at 2.13 GHz, like the i5 750, unlike 2.40 GHz on the i7 800 series. This one goes for $205, just $5 more than the i5 750. Further down, the i3 540 dual-core processor got a price cut to $117, and LGA775 Pentium Dual Core processor models E6600 and E5500 also got small price cuts.

Finally, the socket LGA1156 Xeon X3470, which carries specifications similar to the Core i7 870, got its price cut down by a large 44.3% to $328.