Intel launches Core i5, Xeon 3400

Intel today brought its most recent chip architecture into the mainstream with the official start to Lynnfield, its lower-cost but also more advanced desktop platform. The design is headlined by updated Core i7 and new Core i5 processors that build not only the memory controller but also a 16X PCI Express interface directly into the processor die, leaving just a single chip on the mainboard to control the remaining PCI Express slots and other mainboard duties. The gesture cuts lag in talking directly to graphics hardware and reduces the footprint of the system.

The Core i7 parts are headlined by the 2.8GHz i7 860 and 2.93GHz i7 870, both of which are quad-core models with 8MB of Level 2 cache but which use Hyperthreading to handle as many as eight program tasks at once. Core i5 starts with just one model, the 2.66GHz i5 750, but differs only in the absence of Hyperthreading.

Read more: electronista.com