Intel's fast quad-core Core i7-2700K comes less than two weeks after AMD unveiled its high-end FX desktop chips based on its new Bulldozer architecture.
Intel
reportedly has launched its high-end Core i7-2700K desktop processor, a fast
quad-core chip that comes less than two weeks after rival Advanced Micro
Devices rolled out its family of FX processors, based on the company's new
Bulldozer architecture.
Intel's
i7-2700K is the giant chip maker's fastest chip based on its own Sandy Bridge
architecture, which began appearing in Intel processors in January. The chip
clocks in at 3.5GHz-which can climb to 3.9GHz, when leveraging Intel's Turbo
Boost technology-and is meant to challenge AMD's most powerful FX chips.
Except for the
power upgrade, the i7-2700K is about the same as the current i7-2600K, which
had a frequency of 3.4GHz. The chip can execute up to eight threads at the same
time, and offers an 8MB L3 cache and a thermal design power (TDP) of 95 watts.
Like all Sandy Bridge chips, it also includes integrated high-level graphics,
in this case Intel's HD 3000 graphics.
And like the
i7-2600K, it also has an unlocked clock multiplier so it can be more easily
over-clocked for high performance.
The i7-2700K
has been eyed as Intel's answer to AMD's new Bulldozer chips, which are
starting to hit the market. Intel's chip reportedly will challenge the FX chips,
and for a price of about $100 more--$332 for 1,000 unit quantities. That price
is about $15 higher than the i7-2600K.
Intel and AMD
have spent much of the year filling out the lineups of their respective new
chip offerings. At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in January, AMD launched
the first of its Fusion accelerated processing units (APUs), which offer the
CPU and high-level graphics integrated onto the same piece of silicon. At the
same show, Intel released the first of its Sandy Bridge processors, which
feature the same integrated CPU-graphics capabilities.
Executives
from both AMD and Intel have said the ramps of their respective technologies
have been the fastest in their companies' histories.
AMD now has
begun rolling out new PC and server chips based on its Bulldozer core, which
company executives say will bring greater performance and energy efficiency.
The four initial FX chips range from four to eight cores
"AMD FX CPUs
are back with a vengeance,'" Chris Cloran, corporate vice president and general
manager for AMD's Client Group, said in a statement when the chips were
released Oct. 12. "While over-clockers will certainly enjoy the frequencies the
AMD FX processors can achieve, PC enthusiasts and HD media aficionados will
appreciate the remarkable experience that AMD FX processors can provide as part
of a balanced, affordable desktop system."
However, the
chip maker has been hit with mixed reviews about the performance of the first
Bulldozer chips, which has added to a difficult autumn for AMD. Last month, the
company announced that it was cutting its third-quarter financial forecasts due
to manufacturing issues with partner Globalfoundries.
The
manufacturing problems at Globalfoundries' site in Germany were limiting supplies
of AMD's 32-nanometer Llano chips for mainstream notebooks and desktops, and
had delayed the shipment of the company's Interlagos Opteron server processors.
The issues
come at a time when AMD is being squeezed by traditional rival Intel on the
high end and now ARM Holdings-whose chip designs are found in most mobile
devices, including popular smartphones and tablets-on the low end.
AMD is
scheduled to announce third-quarter earnings Oct. 27.
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