Intel Phases Out 19 Core-i3, i5, i7 and Pentium CPUs

[lp231]

[citation][nom]nao1120[/nom]They already discontinued all of the "DUO" and Original "QUAD" E, and Q series. I snagged a Q9550 before it was - Which in my opinion is as good as any chip out there for gaming performance even now. The others are "faster" but not worth a complete new unit at this time. Probably won't need to upgrade till the next gen after sandy-e arrives. 60FPS at 1080P is fine already by me! Adding a second video card will make unit from 2008 last even longer! Solid chip[/citation]

Still using a X3350 (Q9450) and it does the job well, but I can't seem to find a reason to upgrade to Sandy Bridge /E. Ivy Bridge looks attractive, but I'll have to see if there are any true benefits before I take the plunge. Maybe if my board holds out, I may skip Ivy Bridge and head over to Haswell /E.
BTW certain Core 2 Quads have 12MB L2 cache, which none of the current mainstream models has, even the Core i7 2600K tops out at 8MB. Intel now calls it Smart Cache, but I assume it's L3?

 

[velocityg4]

I don't get why they needed so many varied CPU's anyways. It seems pointless to have all these 0.1Ghz increments in every socket type with just a couple dollars variance. Many times two or more models are sold at the same price for the same socket.

How about simplifying things. When you replace a socket with a new one. Dump most of the manufacturing for it. Just leave three speeds for each core count low end, middle and high end for replacements of the few CPU's that fail and upgrades.

Heck for current sockets the increments should be cut to about 0.3Ghz so each level up is a 10% to 15% boost. Making it actually meaningful to choose the next step up. I'd think this could also drop there costs and reduce prices. Since they would not have to make so many lines. Although most speed steps are probably the exact same CPU with some micro jumpers set differently to tell the CPU that it is a faster model.

 

[jsc]

[citation][nom]Firehead2k[/nom]That just makes me realize that my Q6600 is getting really old.Combined with my 4870 it still plays all dx9 and most dx10 games perfectly.[/citation]
I know what you mean. My personal network is Q9550 OC'd and GTX260, Q6600 OC'd and a G80 8800GTS, and an E7500 OC'd and a 4870.

But I do plan on upgrading to IB.

 

[theuniquegamer]

I don't know why they are phasing out the entry level pentium cpus ,they are good processors under $100 like the amd atholon ii x3 rana

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

today's top processors (Bulldozer

[citation][nom]theuniquegamer[/nom]I don't know why they are phasing out the entry level pentium cpus ,they are good processors under $100 like the amd atholon ii x3 rana[/citation]

Because there're sub-$100 Sandy Bridge Pentiums and Celerons available, and I can verify that they're quite good for the price.

Relax, guys... Intel is phasing out the old CPUs - so? It's pure gain for everyone. Intel can concentrate on making new chips (prices drop). Enthusiasts don't get hurt since phasing older CPUs out doesn't mean they're gonna perform worse - Core 2 Quads are still kicking, X58 will be kicking even when IB is around. Also, keep in mind a cool possibility: your board craps out, you try to return it on the warranty but there's no stock - they offer you a brand-new new-gen board/CPU - almost happened to me recently (got offered a Z68 board instead of P67 but denied due to lack of PS/2, no benefits and extra cost I had to pay).

I welcome this news, though I'm surprised that LGA1366 is that old - I thought it's only like 1.5 years (that's when I first heard about it), but it's almost 4... Apparently, Intel did a small mistake there by introducing an enthusiast platform first and mainstream second; they learned their lesson well and Sandy Bridge did the opposite.

In other news, many boards are already getting BIOS updates to support Ivy Bridge My P8P67 Pro already got it; Intel has AMD beaten on all fronts: value for money AND socket life duration

I wonder what's stopping Intel from trying to make a decent dedicated GPU... probably too much competition. I bet that at one point they'll just acquire nVidia

 

[phyco126]

[citation][nom]theuniquegamer[/nom]I don't know why they are phasing out the entry level pentium cpus ,they are good processors under $100 like the amd atholon ii x3 rana[/citation]

They are only phasing out the Pentiums on the older sockets, not for the current socket of 1155.

To those who are talking about their computers being obsolete. That is utter freaking bull. Quit acting like your computer will suddenly develop Alzheimer's and will now take hours to open up your browser. I have a E8400 and I do photo editing and have explored professional video editing. It can handle those tasks very well, and the photo edits don't slow the system down at all, and take less than a minute for some edits. Video editing is smooth. Sure, I'll shave time off with a new processor, but its not like my system is struggling to perform. As for gaming, I just upgraded from a 8800 GT (which played most games on high settings, with the exception of Crysis, which was on low) on a 1920 x 1200 monitor smoothly. Heck, Skyrim ran on ultra at 22 FPS, no AA/AF. But I just upgraded to a 560 Ti 448 Core, and you know what? Not a single game dips below 32 FPS at 100% MAX settings (including full AA and AF). So knock off that whiny "oh, my computer is a worthless piece of junk" crap. Its annoying as hell and makes you guys look like entitled brats whose parents bought you a Ferrari when you wanted that Bugatti.

 

[g-unit1111]

[citation][nom]Derbixrace[/nom]19 core CPUs was the first i thought and i was like WTF is this?[/citation]

I thought the exact same thing! :lol:

 

[shin0bi272]

*salutes the brave and bold 1366 platform*

1366 we hardly knew ye. That being said I did like how they pointed out that the platform is still holding its own against the newest processors.

Now if we could just get intel to stick with a platform for more than a year wed be set. LOL.

 

[1965ohio]

I thought most of those parts would have been discontinued in the middle of 2011 since Sandybridge was launched and was an instant success. Most OEMs moved to SNB CPUs for laptops in the beginning of the year anyways.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

*salutes the brave and bold 1366 platform*

1366 we hardly knew ye. That being said I did like how they pointed out that the platform is still holding its own against the newest processors.

Now if we could just get intel to stick with a platform for more than a year wed be set. LOL.

Intel ain't AMD, they actually make new stuff. Just for teh lulz, current LGA1155 boards (at least the P67/Z68 ones) will support IB, as I said. Happy now?

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

I thought most of those parts would have been discontinued in the middle of 2011 since Sandybridge was launched and was an instant success. Most OEMs moved to SNB CPUs for laptops in the beginning of the year anyways.

Well, SB was NOT instant success - remember, Intel had to recall pretty much all P67 boards?

 

[dfusco]

I still don't see a compelling reason to upgrade my i7-860. Looks like I'm set for another year.

 

[cybersans]

its already 2 years (12/2009) since i bought i7-860 and a year later (12/2010) i sold it to other people to grab i7-2600K

 

[tacete]

I guess I didn't think of there beng a 19 core cpu like many once I read CPUs. Meaning more than 1 processor. Just me though... =P

 

[wingartz]

guess it is time to say goodbye to my i7 920, aww man :S, well not really im still kicking bulldozer ass, but ivy bridge will be my next option not sandy bridge nor sandy bridge extreme

 

[cookoy]

shoot, my top laptop just became officially obsolete

 

[SteelCity1981]

[citation][nom]willard[/nom]Why? Do you really want to go spend your hard earned dollars on a three year old platform that's more expensive and slower than the current one? These aren't cheap chips they're phasing out, and you could upgrade your system to Sandy Bridge for about the same cost and see WAY better performance.[/citation]

Yes if they would do the amd approach and actually drop their older platfroms and cpu prices considerably. I mean who wouldn't want a Core i7 860 for 130 bucks.

 

[willard]

[citation][nom]SteelCity1981[/nom]Yes if they would do the amd approach and actually drop their older platfroms and cpu prices considerably. I mean who wouldn't want a Core i7 860 for 130 bucks.[/citation]
The price is limited by manufacturing cost. The chips still cost Intel pretty much the same amount to manufacture as when they came out, and the prices have already dropped as much as they ever will. Flagship chips demand flagship prices, no matter how old they are. They're just plain expensive to produce.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Intel to ramp up production of old chips so they can sell at a loss and discourage people from picking up the new processors. I know it would be nice for the consumers, but Intel isn't UNICEF, and they're not going to make terrible business decisions just to be nice.

 

[willard]

[citation][nom]SteelCity1981[/nom]Yes if they would do the amd approach and actually drop their older platfroms and cpu prices considerably. I mean who wouldn't want a Core i7 860 for 130 bucks.[/citation]
Oh, and AMD doesn't drop their prices to be nice to consumers, either. They drop their prices because they can't compete with Intel and have to drive prices down as far as possible so they can actually move their chips.

 

[CaedenV]

[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]intel needs to make 1 socket work for a long time regardless of the cpu, look at what amd has done with their motherboards. im willing to bet money that more people bought the wrong mother board in intels side than on amd.[/citation]
Exactly, look what AMD has done... absolutely nothing, and now they are paying the price. Sure Intel could have kept the 1156 through the 1155 line, but they didn't. Intel has always had a low end and high end platform which runs through the series (sandy bridge and ivy bridge is a single series, as were the nahelem and westmere chips before that, and the conroe through Yorkfield before that). After Ivy there will be yet another change in platforms, it is just the way it goes.

 

[psiboy]

I wish they would ditch the dinosaur names of Pentium and Celeron... They have marketed the "i" series so well no one asks for a Pentium or a Celeron... Idiots... Perhaps they should Rename them as they are built on the new architecture anyways... maybe an i1 for the celeron and i2 for the pentium?

 

[quangluu96]

IM still using Core 2 Duo o.o

 

[eddieroolz]

I'm actually surprised Intel was still making LGA1156 CPUs.

 

[aaron88_7]

I'm amazed there are people still buying these outdated, old chips. The writing has been on the wall for well over a year now.

Why people keep buying these old chips? I have no idea, but Intel is doing these people a favor by eliminating them from production.

 

[valu3hunt3r]

Still running my i7 930 @ stock, will probably OC it in future if needed to tide me over until late 2013 (Haswell I think).