Intel Core i7 name confirmed; aiming for Q4 production

As leaked on Friday, Intel has today confirmed that their next generation of processors – previously codenamed Nehalem – will be called “Intel Core Processor”, with the first batch of chips to be called the Core i7.  Both standard and “Extreme Editions” will be available, the latter differentiated with a black logo compared to the standard blue.

“The Core name is and will be our flagship PC processor brand going forward.  Expect Intel to focus even more marketing resources around that name and the Core i7 products starting now” Sean Maloney, Intel Corporation executive vice president and general manager, Sales and Marketing Group

Intel expects the first Core i7 chips to go into production in Q4 2008, although it has not confirmed actual availability dates.  The processors will include the company’s Hyper-Threading Technology, also known as simultaneous multi-threading, and are capable of handling eight software “threads” on four processor cores.

Core i7 will introduce a new architecture to the existing die platform that the Core 2 Duo processors are currently built on.  There will also be an integrated graphics processor and memory controller.