Digital Home Thoughts: Intel's Core Family is a Happy Family

"Of course, that’s only really funny for the folks who’ve already seen how the Lynnfield-based processors actually perform and know they’re not as anemic as an enthusiast might expect, given the fact that Intel is aggressively pursuing integration, aiming for a SoC-type design in the not-so-distant future. But Clarkdale is six months away, at least. Today is all about Lynnfield—the Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs for Intel’s LGA 1156 interface."

When Intel first came out with its Core i7 processors, they smacked all other CPUs around and cost enough to fund the American auto industry. It is now nearly a year later, and Intel has decided that mere mortals should now be able to have access to extreme computing power and have updated the Core i7 and introduced the Core i5 a more reasonably priced powerhouse. Tom's Hardware gives you the skinny, putting the new CPUs through the usual tests and noting the changes between generations and the improvements made such as on Turbo Boost. The takeaway from all this is that Intel is keeping busy trying to maintain its performance crown, but has made the mid-range pricing much more competitive. Whether you favour Intel or AMD, expect prices to be quite juicy in the coming weeks!