Maingear have announced a new PC that can’t decide quite whether it’s for gamers or HTPC enthusiasts. The Maingear Axess HD Gamer has its sights on your living room, and uses a low-profile aluminum case; however inside there’s an Intel Core i7 processor, up to 12GB of DDR3 memory and dual NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT graphics cards in SLI configuration. The Axess HD Gamer is also the first system to come with the Phantom Lapboard.
Intel have announced that it will be rebranding its CPU range to supposedly simplify the lineup, focusing on the “Intel Core” prefix and transitioning the Centrino brand to cover the company’s WiFi and WiMAX products. Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 will eventually replace Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad, distinguishing different feature sets; somewhat confusingly, some processors will slot into multiple i-prefix categories, depending on their capabilities.
For instance, the upcoming Lynnfield desktop processor will be an Intel Core chip, but have various models that slot into the i5 or i7 segments. Broadly speaking, i3 is an entry-level chip, i5 is a mid-level chip and i7 is the flagship high-level processor. It’s not all change, though, as the Celeron and Pentium brands limp on to cover “affordable entry-level” and “basic computing” respectively.
Intel’s upcoming CPU plans continue to leak out, with motherboard manufacturers apparently tipping a new entry-level Celeron range in Q3 2009 together with a new Core i7 processor in Q4. The Intel Celeron E3000 series will replace the existing E1000 series, and initially consist of 45nm 2.4GHz and 2.5GHz chips. As for the performance chip, that will be the 3.2GHz Core i7 960.
The newly revealed Intel Core i7-950 and i7-975 Extreme Edition are barely up on retail stores, custom PC builder already got it up for grabs. Velocity Micro takes their performance systems up a few notches today by announcing the immediate availability of the new Intel Core i7 processors on selected home, office and high performance custom-built desktops.
You’ve got to admire Intel’s persistence: if you can’t squeeze out AMD with slightly shady business practices, then crush them with new high-end processors. Two new Core i7 chips have made an appearance, the Intel Core i7 Extreme 975 and the Core i7 950, expected to replace the 965 and 940 chips respectively.
The one thing better than a great vast Steampunk gaming PC is winning one, and that’s just what’s going to happen with this custom Jake Hildebrandt creation. Crafted from wood, copper and a variety of brass embellishments, the guts of the PC are just as impressive as the exterior (though thankfully a whole lot more up to date): an Intel Core i7 965 CPU, 12GB of DDR3 RAM and dual ATI Radeon 4870X2 graphics.
Intel are reportedly preparing to phase-out two of their three Core i7 processors, despite having only launched the CPUs around six months ago. Hardware partners have been notified that the Intel 2.93GHz Core i7-940 and Core i7-965 Extreme will only accept orders for the two chips up until September 4th 2009, with the final batch shipping on May 7th 2010. The move has led some to suggest that Intel launched the three consumer Nehalem processors so as to keep to their much-publicized timetable, and never intended them to be long-term products.
Hardcore gamers out there might be interested to know that the Gamer Supreme 928i from iBUYPOWER will soon be available through NewEgg exclusively for $1,299. The rig is positioned for gamers who need the performance, and have a bit of spending money. The specs are pretty nice, so make sure you check those out below.
HP have announced a new Core i7-based desktop PC, the HP Pavilion Elite m9600 series, intended for media creators and editors but also likely to find favor with gamers. The range starts with the Core i7-920 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS video card, a 500GB hard-drive DVD burner; HP have also announced four new Full-HD 16:9 LCD monitors to go with the Elite m9600.
Intel are preparing two new Core i7 CPUs for launch in May, according to a new roadmap for the chipmaker. The Intel Core i7-975 3.33Ghz and Core i7-950 3.06GHz will replace the existing 3.2GHz and 2.93GHz chips, priced at $999 and $562 respectively when bought in bulk.
More Intel chip news after the cut
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