These i5 are going to hurt amd's phenom II very badly.

i5 is gonna make Intel the winner again....AMD really needs a new plan.

Am I the only one annoyed that Intel decides to make it's first line of 45nm consumer, rather than performance processors?

I'm planning on upgrading to an i7 soon, but I find it silly that they offer benefits so fit to overclocking to people who probably aren't going to use it, and who probably aren't going to care (or know) quite as much about power consumption. I certainly hope they release more i7's soon.

I meant 32nm not 45nm.

Annoyed, but not unexpected. Consumer line is where the money is, they won't keep releasing top end processors to satisfy the tiny amount of enthusiasts.

not really the prices are way too high when you factor price to performance ratio you will see that the phenom 2's would still compete,even with all the cool things these processors can do...not everyone is going to rush in and spend that kind of money when they could get something that would provide similar performance for a lot less elsewhere there difference between lynnfield and the phenom 2 line isn't as wide as the difference between core s duo and athlon x2/ phenom 1...this time they won't be as dominant unless their prices are more competitive but then again i like it because it gives us a many more options....by the way another thing you have to consider is that the phenom 2 line of processors for the most part is backward compatible with ddr2 and am2+ boards so one could upgrade to without spending too much money whereas all the intel ppl who would want to upgrade to the i5 would have to change almost all of the core components mobo/ram/cpu and that will cost quite a lot of money,something that won't affect amd as much,i am not hating on intel or anything but i am just pointing out common sense i would love an i5 myself but if financially it makes more sense to buy amd (especially if the performance is not that different) then i see no point in spending all that money for an i5...just my two cents

Stupid Stupid Stupid, two different socket configurations now for running an Intel Processor( yes for different performance levels and pricing strategies,which wont be that far apart, between C2Q and I7) Why two sockets Intel, lga775 was a bit of a mess to start but with bios updates even older 1333 fsb Mobos will take new C2D chips, now splitting the sockets two ways is just a nightmare, I am glad I spent far less on p45 and C2D and not on I7 or waiting for I5, my machine will go along nicely till the all around approach from AMD's chipset/processor/graphics matures in the 8 series boards and phenom 2/3 (in the future) processors without the hefty price attached and compatibility issues present (Dragon is looking good as an all round approach!), they have done well to allow cross compatibility so far and see that as a point to take forward with their consumer base. And I am no fanboy for either of the two chip makers, just want logical thinking from them!

yeah, sell to oracle ;-) ok no fooling, sell to the red communist chinese.

the enthusiast line makes up such a small part of intel's sales that it only makes sense to introduce the new consumer parts first.

I understand that, but why go 32nm? Why not start with a 45nm i5's, then make 32nm i7's? Average Joe doesn't care about overclocking, die shrinks, or TDP. Why would you give him the benefits when he wouldn't know the difference?

why go 32nm you say ? Its all about the yields. They will make a lot more processors per wafer on 32nm which they can then sell to their biggest market which most certainly is not enthusiast. 32NM = More money for Intel plain and simple. Otherwise do you think they would have continued the costly upgrade process during this economic downturn ?

These i5 are going to dump those who bought i7 now very badly , because they are completely different socket and they can't be upgrade at all .

i7 outperforms the i5 by some, the i5 series is meant to bring some of the i7 performance to mainstream.

The i5's aren't going to be more powerful than the i7's. i5's are for the lower and mid level consumers, as is the LGA 1156 platform.

Either way, it sucks that Intel is using a different socket for the i5. Intel kept lga775 for a while, but right now I wouldn't move to their new lines because I have no clue if there will ever be an upgrade path available.

Exactly. You don't use a more expensive process if it is financially viable to use a cheaper one. These guys aren't out to make enthusiasts happy about their i7s, they're out to make money.

If the i5 uses a different socket, then it sounds like a dead beat path. Way get an i5, when you can get an i7 or even a phenom and actually get better chips with sockets that will contiune to support better chips for prolly longer at similar or not much more of a price. Hell if you want "budget:, or for AMD. Intel is the cream of the crop right now. Seems werid.

That's the problem with the prices. They aren't attractive when Phenom II is a pretty good chip and will probably have cheaper motherboards too.

Did you just miss what I said?

The difference this gen is Intel is going in a more segmented approach. They have the LGA 1156 for their low to mid end and they have LGA 1366 for the mid to high range. So the higher end processors be LGA 1366 and the lower end will be LGA 1156.

lol, they wrote "DD3 Memory Controller". Time for new ram anyways, sigh

Upgrade path? How many times have you upgraded a cpu and kept the same motherboard? Personally i think the first and only time i did was on socket A board for amd. Usually by the time i go to upgrade the cpu there is a new socket out,with a new chipset,with enough bells and whistles to make me just ditch the old mobo anyways.

1.6-2.0GHz seems too slow for a mobile quad-core, even with HT.

o well im quite happy with my lga 775 with e6750 @ 3.4. If i need to upgrade ill just get the e8500. Stupid lga 1366 and now lga 1156, the only money i have is for graphics upgrades once every 6 months.

Death fish with those prices specially when you can't upgrade to a corei7 or a sixcore i7.

Just an epic fail.

The idea of two socket was wrong from the start, time will give me the reason.

And remembres, the "cheapest" i5 it's heavily castrated.

Right....... I think I hear laughter from my i7 920 still in the box behind me.

Can't wait for mobo and RAM to arrive later today.

$562 for the 2.96 version? Yeah I would think that a Phenom II or the i7 920 would be a better buy. $196 doesn't seem so bad for the 2.66 version though I wonder how it's lack of hyper threading will affect it's performance. Looks like for now the Phenom II is still gonna be the better deal but we'll see how it plays out. Thing is, AMD needs to compete in the $200 - $400 mark for higher margins if they want to survive. Hopefully revisions in stepping on the PII will help it narrow the gap in performance, specifically by improving IPC.

The *2.93 ghz coming at $562 and the 2.66 at $196 makes it sound a bit fishy... Wonder what the 2.8 ghz one costs though (maybe around $300)

You wish! It looks like the i5 will perfomance will be behind that of the i7(dual channel memo opposed to triple in i7 among other features) Given the aggressive price cuts of the p2 today by AMD i doubt the i5 will stand a chance. Not unless intel does something.
I wonder how the its benches will compare to the core 2 quads ...

Is AMD taking government bailout or Intel assistance? There is no way AMD could make expensive chips, sell it below cost, make a profit and invest in R&D.

The best AMD chip is going for $245 and older chips below $150 because no one is willing to pay more for AMD (GM syndrome).

I hate it when they change sockets.

This is where the "tick-tock" strategy from Intel starts becoming a liability rather than an asset; too much, too fast, too soon. Most businesses have just finished upgrading their desktops to Skt775 let alone push a new Skt1156 and platform. The only saving grace for Intel will be the OEM markets. How much longer until C2D and C2Q are on the short list and Skt775 products and support are no longer available and you'll be forced to look for an E8600 on eBay?

The fact that Intel did not include hyperthreading with the 2.66GHz i5 is a kick in the teeth and extorts another $150+/- for only 200MHz and support for 4 more threads; where's the price for performance, where's the value in that?