Intel will announce a new family of processors based on the Nehalem architecture code-named Lynnfield later this year. These 45nm processors will launch as the Core i5 series and the differences from today’s Bloomfield (Core i7) architecture are a somewhat simpler memory controller and lower clock frequencies. Core i7 was the first processor platform sporting a triple-channel memory controller but Lynnfield will settle for dual channels.
According to recently surfaced information the memory support by itself will be better with the new Lynnfield architecture. Bloomfield and the Core i7 processors officially only supports up to DDR3-1066 and even if you can easily overclock your DDR3 memories much higher it is a limitation.
Lynnfield is said to support up to DDR3-1333, which may sound a bit odd. But even if Intel’s mid-range platform would support faster memory, the high-end platform still has the upper hand with one more channel. At the same time rumors have appeared suggesting that Some Lynnfield processors will become a part of the Core i7 family, e.g. Core i7 8xx.
DFI P55 LANParty UT
Considering clock frequencies the fastest Lynnfield processor will debut at 2.93GHz and we should not expect any models above 3.0GHz for some time. The processors sport 8MB cache will slide into Intel’s new LGA1156 socket supported by the P55 chipset.
