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Intel Core i7-930 arriving Q1 2010

Published on 28th October 2009 by bit-tech Staff

Intel's Core i7 930 will become the new low-end LGA1366 chip next year.

Intel may be set to discontinue its excellent Core i7-920 chip within the next few months, but we've just heard confirmation that its replacement will arrive in Q1 2010.

It'll be called the Core i7-930.

At 2.88GHz it'll be a drop-in quad-core, eight thread upgrade for current LGA 1366 motherboards, although we're yet to find out whether this will be a 45nm or 32nm part.

We've also heard prices are likely to be comparable to the current Core i7-920 too, meaning that those LGA 1156 Core i7-860s and 870s will still have to drop in price considerably to become attractive for UK buyers. If you're planning an upgrade, we'd still advise LGA 1366 as the route to take.

Interested in a Q1 upgrade? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

30 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

DragunovHUN 28th October 2009, 11:04

Well that's certainly neat. I don't regret jumping on the 920 though.

AngusW 28th October 2009, 11:21

Cool :) wonder how well it overclocks :o

Blassster 28th October 2009, 12:00

Nice. I was afraid to keep my 920 overclocked, for fear it would burn out and I would have no choice but to buy one of the more expensive 1366 chips to replace it. Maybe I'll start tweaking again :)

g3n3tiX 28th October 2009, 12:28

I like how they call it "low end" :D
Great news and surprise from intel !

sear 28th October 2009, 13:29

I just got a Core i7 920. I wonder if this is going to be a case of "too good to live", though. The 920 is basically the only Core i7 on LGA 1366 worth getting if you don't mind overclocking, and Intel may be unhappy about being unable to sell its more expensive processors. I don't predict it being a significantly worthwhile upgrade, even if they don't gimp its performance. I mean, the Core i7 920 overclocks to around 4.5 GHz on water if you've got a good motherboard, and while you might be able to push the i7 930 up a notch, I don't know if anyone who has a 920 is going to feel short-changed.

djab 28th October 2009, 13:40

I was expecting this one but could not handle the wait anymore so I just ordered a i7 920 few days ago ;-)
Unless the i7 930 can easily reach +4.5ghz on air, I should not feel short -changed.

bogie170 28th October 2009, 13:54

Be good to find out whether it is a 45nm or 32nm?

Anyone know?

TWeaK 28th October 2009, 13:56

Sounds like perfect timing for my upgrade. However, I just hope the 920 holds out until January. Something tells me the 920 is going to be better value, hell it's almost a given at the launch of the 930 and might be even cheaper then.

roblikesbeer 28th October 2009, 14:14

So a 2.88Ghz quad-core hyper-threaded processor is "low end" now? My, how times have changed...

Kenny79 28th October 2009, 14:42

I just received my 920 yesterday, never mind lol...

00se7en 28th October 2009, 16:07

Great - so the reason we were all persuaded to go LGA1156 was due to the lack of cheap future upgrades for the X58 platform. If it keeps it's current pricing that sounds like good value versus an i5 750.

thehippoz 28th October 2009, 16:45

still waiting to see what the lucid hydra boards can do.. supposed to be one out for the i7/i5 by end of the year- even heard end of october but who knows

Evildead666 28th October 2009, 18:38

Its nice to see an option at least for the "low end" of the "high end"..will wait until the 9450 dies or becomes too slow for games b4 upgrading the cpu tho...

Rkiver 28th October 2009, 18:42

I like my 920 to be honest, I can clock the dickens of it, or just leave it on stock speeds and it does everything I want.

wuyanxu 28th October 2009, 19:14

hope 860 will drop in price, i want a drop-in upgrade to HT goodness

cgthomas 28th October 2009, 19:29

If you haven't upgraded to LGA 1156 yet, then you should seriously consider skipping that and upgrade to the LGA 1366. As it's much more powerful, mature and future-proof platform. Even though future proof doesn't actaully exists at least you'll have the option of 6-core cpu's with LGA 1366. Maybe in 5 years and you need to upgrade you can get that 6-core which by then will be cheap.

Although unlikely that in 5 years you'll still be able to buy as intel would prob. be making airplanes by then.

oasked 28th October 2009, 19:32

Wow, didn't expect this move from Intel. Nice to see them keeping a "low-end" CPU for socket 1366, and thus keeping support for the platform alive.

I'm glad I jumped on the bandwagon back in November 08... wow almost a year ago. :)

H2O 28th October 2009, 20:19

Gah I just bought a 920! Guessing it it going back to Microcenter or to eBay.

Oh please oh please be 32nm.

VaLkyR-Assassin 28th October 2009, 21:42

I very much doubt it'll be 32nm, as it isn't even on the roadmap, most likely will be a 45nm part. I'd loved to be proved wrong though.

leexgx 28th October 2009, 22:18

overclock wise be the same as an 920 or unclocked I7 as they all seem to do 4ghz on Air (be it £200 or an £750 CPU) if you have the 920 you not see much improvement with an 930

Pookeyhead 28th October 2009, 22:52

I agree.. unless it's 32nm.. which is highly unlikely. If it's not, then I fail to see why this would be an attractive upgrade for current 920 users... as the majority of us are probably running around the 4GHz mark already.... and being 45nm... this probably won't clock any better.

It is good to know that there will be affordable upgrades for 1366 though :)

[ZiiP] NaloaC 28th October 2009, 23:18

Damn it. I had planned to buy the 920 at the beginning of December.... hmmm, will wait to see what the cost is of this. I really down want to wait around for another few months

H2O 28th October 2009, 23:31

Even if it is 45nm, the chance of the first few batches of silicon being exceptional (as they were with the D0s) could be worth it, especially for those of us who do not have great overclocking batches.

Maybe we will see a new stepping too?

trek554 28th October 2009, 23:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pookeyhead
I agree.. unless it's 32nm.. which is highly unlikely. If it's not, then I fail to see why this would be an attractive upgrade for current 920 users... as the majority of us are probably running around the 4GHz mark already.... and being 45nm... this probably won't clock any better.

It is good to know that there will be affordable upgrades for 1366 though :)

well have you stopped to think that this cpu isnt meant to be an upgrade for current 920 owners? thats like complaining about the E7400 coming out to replace the E7300. newer faster cpus come out all the time and just replace older ones in the line up.

H2O 29th October 2009, 02:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by trek554
well have you stopped to think that this cpu isnt meant to be an upgrade for current 920 owners? thats like complaining about the E7400 coming out to replace the E7300. newer faster cpus come out all the time and just replace older ones in the line up.

Actually, the article states, "At 2.88GHz it'll be a drop-in quad-core, eight thread upgrade for current LGA 1366 motherboard..."

I doubt that a great number of people will pay $300 for a measly ~133MHz increase, so there has to be something to entice people to upgrade their 920s. And it really isn't to lure new customers to the platform, as Intel is pushing the 1156 platform to everyone except the most hard-core of the enthusiasts.

At the very least, we should see a new stepping. Otherwise, the 930 would make absolutely no sense.

Autti 29th October 2009, 02:28

Why are people getting their panties in a knot about this? Have you considered that its a new revision, and a refinement in manufacturing allowing higher binning at the same price. I don't think its intended to be an upgrade for a 920, just like an E8600 was never intended to be an upgrade from an E8500.

The only other thing i can think of is that i could be a 6core gulftown that has 2 cores failed on it, selling it as a 32nm quad core, similar to what AMD do, but that seems very unlikely. But it does pose the question what will they do with the failed 6 core CPU's? at 32nm and 6 cores its likely some won't be completely functional.

trek554 29th October 2009, 02:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2O
Quote:
Originally Posted by trek554
well have you stopped to think that this cpu isnt meant to be an upgrade for current 920 owners? thats like complaining about the E7400 coming out to replace the E7300. newer faster cpus come out all the time and just replace older ones in the line up.

Actually, the article states, "At 2.88GHz it'll be a drop-in quad-core, eight thread upgrade for current LGA 1366 motherboard..."

I doubt that a great number of people will pay $300 for a measly ~133MHz increase, so there has to be something to entice people to upgrade their 920s. And it really isn't to lure new customers to the platform, as Intel is pushing the 1156 platform to everyone except the most hard-core of the enthusiasts.

At the very least, we should see a new stepping. Otherwise, the 930 would make absolutely no sense.

you are reading to much into that. it simply means an upgrade for the platform in general not for the individual who already owns a 920 cpu. unless someone is an idiot, a 2.8 cpu would never be an upgrade path over a 2.66 cpu of the same architecture. since its being called a 930 its going to just take over that spot that the 920 is at now since it is getting dropped. again its no different than the E7300 taking the the place of the E7200.

Ross1 29th October 2009, 06:38

32nm would probably make me regret trying to save money by going AM3.

ForumNameHere 29th October 2009, 13:52

I agree with Autti: maybe they're born and bred to be something else, but couldn't cut the mustard. Better than throwin' 'em away. Regardless, I'm glad to see it; I was pretty miffed when I read (among these pages perhaps?) that Intel was gonna go ALL high end with the 1366 stuff. I built a 920 system last Christmas and it was my first ever Intel system, and was steamed by the news. I've got this nasty email all composed in my head to be sent if my 920 dies and the only replacement is $700.
Regardless, I'm just happy to hear it. Of course, I guess this just ASSUMES the price is right.

Unknownsock 10th December 2009, 14:42

Was planning a i7 x58 build soon, think i may wait for this..