Intel Hexacore Gulftown to be Core i7 980X EE

Along with the revamped Nehalem-based Westmere chips, Intel will be bringing a hexacore variant codenamed Gulftown.

Many figured that this new class of desktop chip with its six cores and twelve threads would put it in a class that Intel would see fit to name Core i9 – but if leaked Intel slides are to be believed, Intel is keeping it within the Core i7 family.

Chinese website PCOnline shows a slide that clearly describes an Intel Core i7-980X Processor Extreme Edition as one built on a 32nm process with 12MB Intel Smart Cache and a 130W TDP.

While this leaves some of us wondering what, if anything, Intel will slot into a possible Core i9 class, the positive side is that Intel won't have to print up a whole different set of system badge stickers for the new Gulftown CPU.

This is just the latest in a string of Gulftown leaks. Last month, a Polish website got its hands on an engineering sample and put the chip through its (quick) paces.

Follow us on Twitter for more tech news and exclusive updates here.