Intel Core X-Series Preorders Open Next Week, Core i9-7980XE 36-Thread Monster CPU Ships Q4
Intel has provided the following official rollout schedule for all processors in the Core X-Series:
- Core i5-7640X (4 cores), i7-7740X (4 cores), i7-7800X (6 cores), i7-7820X (8 cores) and i9-7900X (10 cores) will be available for pre-order June 19th
- The above processors will ship one week later on June 26th
- The 12-core Core i9-7920X will ship in August
- The Core i9-7940X (14 cores), Core i9-7960X (16 cores) and Core i9-7980XE (18 cores) are “expected” to ship in October
You can see the entire lineup in the chart below:
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We always expected a later arrival date for the top four SKUs, especially given that Intel didn’t provide any initial guidance other than core counts and pricing for those processors. Intel is also giving itself some wiggle room for the stated October shipping time frame of the flagship Core i9-7980XE, and it is quite possible that availability could slip into November or later. Regardless, the Q4 launch time frame meshes with comments made earlier this month by an ASUS representative. “The 18-core CPUs are not scheduled until later this year,” said the ASUS rep last week. “Won't have them for a while. Either way, unless you're using the rig for rendering or encoding to make a living, no need.”
According to Dell, its newly announced Area-51 gaming desktop with Core X-Series processors will ship on August 22nd. The Area-51 can be configured with up to a Core i9-7920X, which confirms the August shipping timeframe for that processor.
(Click to Enlarge)
“Intel’s heritage in gaming has been built around technical innovation that brings to life amazing experiences – and it’s also an area where we want to keeping pushing the limits of what’s possible with our technology,” said Gregory Bryant, Intel’s SVP and GM for the Client Computing Group. “From giving the world its first look at our upcoming Intel Core i9 Extreme Edition processor to accelerating eSports and the future of VR eSports, we’re excited to be part of one of the strongest PC gaming showcases at E3 in recent years.”
It’s shaping up to a rather action-packed summer for gaming enthusiasts. Not only does Intel have its Core X-Series processor on tap for gamers, but AMD is countering with its Ryzen Threadripper family. Those chips, which will be available in up to 16-core/32-thread configurations, are likely to undercut the Intel family in pricing. However, we are most interested in seeing how the chips stack up with regards to performance, and we will provide you with benchmarks as soon as we get our mitts on them.
