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Six-core Intel CPU will be called Core i9

Published on 1st October 2009 by Clive Webster

Gigabyte confims what everyone else is thinking (and what Intel still denies): Gulftown will be Core i9.

After the launch of a whole new range of Core i7 CPUs that are incompatible in every way with the current range of Core i7 CPUs, there was a lot of head-scratching in the office. Even more so because Intel was adamant that this new branding actually made sense. Come on, Intel, you could’ve at least called the Hyper-Threaded Lynnfield CPUs Core i6s – or do odd numbers just sound cooler?

Anyway, with Intel’s insistence that the LGA1156 Core i7 branding makes perfect sense, and the news that there’s a six-core LGA1366 CPU, codenamed Gulftown, on the way most people were assuming that the new CPUs will be branded Core i9. Even we’ll admit that Core i8 is too much of a mouthful. Asked explicitly whether the new CPUs will be Core i9, Intel has always told us that it can’t comment about forthcoming products.

But it seems Gigabyte can.

As part of it’s latest competition – Beat Me If You Dare – Gigabyte explicitly forbids the use of ‘Gulftown (Core i9)’. This is nothing new, as Intel denied that any Lynnfield CPU would be called Core i5 despite months of (entirely accurate) rumours circulating for months.

Six-core Intel CPU will be called Core i9 Gigabyte: six-core Intel CPU will be Core i9

Gigabyte confirms that the forthcoming six-core Gulftown CPU from Intel will be branded Core i9

If the new CPU is to be a Core i9, at least that makes things slightly easier for anyone upgrading, whether it’s to LGA1156 or LGA1366. Let us know your thoughts about whether this all makes sense or not in the forums.

27 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

l3v1ck 1st October 2009, 16:39

As long as all Core i9 CPU's fit in one size socket. Surely Intel couldn't make the same naming cock-up twice.

ChaosDefinesOrder 1st October 2009, 16:46

hopefully they'll be LGA1366. Would be nice anyway

proxess 1st October 2009, 16:53

I lol'd at the Core i8 mouthful joke. That must make me really geeky. It's even good enough for a "You know you're a geek when..." threads.

Don't mess up now Intel.

rodrigobiz 1st October 2009, 16:54

six cores is unnecessary at this moment (for games of course),two more year and maybe we will see something.
I am very happy with my core2duo ;D

DorkSterr 1st October 2009, 17:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaosDefinesOrder
hopefully they'll be LGA1366. Would be nice anyway

I'm pretty sure it will use the 1366 socket too.

LeMaltor 1st October 2009, 18:04

I demand a third and better socket 1337!

Ta10n 1st October 2009, 18:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeMaltor
I demand a third and better socket 1337!

FLAWLESS VICTORY

wuyanxu 1st October 2009, 18:45

but how much is it going to cost?

smc8788 1st October 2009, 18:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by wuyanxu
but how much is it going to cost?

Well it's the first 6-core CPU on the market, and it's going be be an Extreme Edition, so I'll be willing to bet it's at least £1000.

gavomatic57 1st October 2009, 18:51

It may use an existing socket, but I'm sure Intel will find a way to force you to buy a new motherboard, just like the Core2's - 1066mhz, 1333mhz, 1600mhz...

null_x86 1st October 2009, 19:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardJoe
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/10/01/six-core-intel-cpu-will-be-called-core-i9/1

Gigabyte confirms everyone's suspicion that the forthcoming six-core Gulftown CPU will be branded as Core i9.

;)

lol well that was pointless, WikiPedia and intel themselves already said its going to be i9.

HourBeforeDawn 1st October 2009, 19:55

from what I can tell about intel pretty much killing the 1366 socket is that there was going to be 3 core i7 options and then core i9 six core cpu for that socket BUT Im sure a version sooner or latter will hit the other socket ~_~

moshpit 1st October 2009, 20:48

I say that it's an assumption that it'll be i9 and the i7 1000 range is the correct name. I don't believe Gigabyte leaked anything but a guess.

dec 2nd October 2009, 00:42

will gulftown(i9) be more like lynnfield (i5 750) or like bloomfield (i7 920)?

Ross1 2nd October 2009, 00:55

intel, getting their naming tips from nvidia......

you would think they would know better. stop trying to make the similar things look different, and different things look the same....

H2O 2nd October 2009, 01:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross1
intel, getting their naming tips from nvidia......

you would think they would know better. stop trying to make the similar things look different, and different things look the same....

Nvidia have been using the one form or another of the G92 architecture since the 8800 series, while Intel have been pushing out architecture changes every two years and die shrinks every other year. In a matter of two years we have gone from 65nm - 45nm -32nm, with the introduction of a true quad-core CPU and the pending introduction of a 6 core CPU.

Star*Dagger 2nd October 2009, 02:37

It is SOOOOOOOOO obvious what that should call it!!!
It would be popular and hip and puts people in the mind of something really fast and fun!

I-Sixty-Nine!
I69

People with MBAs must get a lobotomy with their fracking degree!!!

Yours in I69 Plasma,
Star*Dagger

Ross1 2nd October 2009, 05:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2O
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ross1
intel, getting their naming tips from nvidia......

you would think they would know better. stop trying to make the similar things look different, and different things look the same....

Nvidia have been using the one form or another of the G92 architecture since the 8800 series, while Intel have been pushing out architecture changes every two years and die shrinks every other year. In a matter of two years we have gone from 65nm - 45nm -32nm, with the introduction of a true quad-core CPU and the pending introduction of a 6 core CPU.

you seem to have missed the point..... nvidia had the 8800 GTS (320 and 640), then released the 8800 GTS 512, which was a different architecture, but called the same thing. as you say that (and then 8800 GT) has basically be re-branded and re-branded again, despite being the same basic g92 chip.

there are i7 cpus on totally different sockets, and i5 and i7 cpus on the same socket.... some i5s and i7s being the same basic chip as eachother, yet some i7's having an embedded pci-e controller, some not, and some i7's supporting triple channel DDR3, some only dual channel DDR3.

its exactly the same nonsense naming system.

docodine 2nd October 2009, 07:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by smc8788
Quote:
Originally Posted by wuyanxu
but how much is it going to cost?

Well it's the first 6-core CPU on the market, and it's going be be an Extreme Edition, so I'll be willing to bet it's at least £1000.

AMD and Intel have had 6-core server CPUs out for quite some time now, but I agree with your price point. I'm guessing $1337, just because they can. D:

quake1-rules 2nd October 2009, 07:34

Quote:

you seem to have missed the point..... nvidia had the 8800 GTS (320 and 640), then released the 8800 GTS 512, which was a different architecture, but called the same thing. as you say that (and then 8800 GT) has basically be re-branded and re-branded again, despite being the same basic g92 chip.

there are i7 cpus on totally different sockets, and i5 and i7 cpus on the same socket.... some i5s and i7s being the same basic chip as eachother, yet some i7's having an embedded pci-e controller, some not, and some i7's supporting triple channel DDR3, some only dual channel DDR3.

its exactly the same nonsense naming system.

+1. Very well put.

tron 2nd October 2009, 11:13

What would have been wrong with In$el naming the chips as something more straight forward as:

Core 4 = 4 core cpu

Core 4h = 4 core cpu with hyperthreading

Core 6h = 6 core cpu with hyperthreading

Core 8h = 8 core cpu with hyperthreading

Intel MUST be deliberately trying to confuse customers like NVIDIA do, because I can't believe that their marketing guys can be so stupid. Ask the average person on the high street how many cores does the Core i7 have and they would probably guess that it has around about 'exactly' 7 cores.

infi 2nd October 2009, 12:18

well it'll be good if the i9 will be on socket 1366, it's always nice to know you can still upgrade some time in the future without getting a whole new system.

AWowzer 2nd October 2009, 17:11

i tempted to spend saturdays in pc world just to hear their dipstick salespeople trying to explain this to mr and mrs technology clueless. "yeah core i5 is 4 cores and core i7 is 4 cores and core i9 is 6 cores. obviously! core i5 can run 4 threads core i7 8 threads and core i9 12 threads. obviously! upgrade? yeah you cant upgrade a slow i5 to better i5 or slow i5 to better i7 because all use different motherboards. some i5 use 1156, some i5 use 1366, some i7 use 1156 some i7 use 1366. has amd's marketing department gone undercover at intel?

AWowzer 2nd October 2009, 17:26

having different sockets for i5 and i7 was bad enough, but this is a joke. even techies struggle to get their heads round this one. this stupidity will push more people down the amd route which intel should take a leaf out of for their upgrade path options. imagine how much more business intel could have done long term if they had kept the 1366 socket uniform across the core i range. someone could start off with a low end core i5 in the knowledge they could drop in a core i9 as the price comes down without having to change the motherboard. after the joke of the most counterintuitive brand ever "core 2 quad" i thought they could only get better. but oh no. 4 core core i5, 4 core core i7, 6 core core i9. they must like number puzzles at intel, consumers dont though

AWowzer 2nd October 2009, 17:31

they said the 7 in core i7 is to do with it being its 7th gen chip but clearly it is nt because core i5 is not their 5th gen chip and core i9 is not their 9th gen chip. now they say its to do with hyperthreading. surely it would make sense to the public of core i4, core i8 and core i12 each no representing how many threads can be run and keep the wretched socket the same

Abdul Hadi 5th October 2009, 07:02

Should be compatible with the series. Don't know how eager the owners of Core i7 will be to upgrade. It'll be a whole new computer.

Horizon 12th October 2009, 14:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross1
Quote:
Originally Posted by H2O
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ross1
intel, getting their naming tips from nvidia......

you would think they would know better. stop trying to make the similar things look different, and different things look the same....

Nvidia have been using the one form or another of the G92 architecture since the 8800 series, while Intel have been pushing out architecture changes every two years and die shrinks every other year. In a matter of two years we have gone from 65nm - 45nm -32nm, with the introduction of a true quad-core CPU and the pending introduction of a 6 core CPU.

you seem to have missed the point..... nvidia had the 8800 GTS (320 and 640), then released the 8800 GTS 512, which was a different architecture, but called the same thing. as you say that (and then 8800 GT) has basically be re-branded and re-branded again, despite being the same basic g92 chip.

there are i7 cpus on totally different sockets, and i5 and i7 cpus on the same socket.... some i5s and i7s being the same basic chip as eachother, yet some i7's having an embedded pci-e controller, some not, and some i7's supporting triple channel DDR3, some only dual channel DDR3.

its exactly the same nonsense naming system.

Actually, they're the complete opposite of one another. One you have the same product by different names, and the other different products with the same name. So Intel wouldn't be taking notes from Nvidia but writing their own book.

GeForce 8800GT 256MB
GeForce 8800GT 512MB <- self explanatory
GeForce 8800GTS 512MB <-overclock
GeForce 9800GTX <-overclock
GeForce 9800GTX+ <- die shrink, small changes, overclock
GeForce GTS 250