According to the following link, the I7 980X may be released in the Mar/Apr timeframe but I thought it might be interesting to also note that one overclocker got it up to 5.9GHz! That's fast! But the downside is that it is rumored to cost around $2000 when released. http://www.nordichardware.com/news,10590.htmlBest regards,Jim

Keep in mind the $2000 price is either A ) speculationB ) converted cost due to currency differences and local taxes (Europe has VAT of 15% or higher, IIRC)The MSRP in the U.S. should be $999, as has been with all previous Extreme processors Intel has released. Also, 5.9GHz is unobtainable on air cooling. That is most assuredly using some extreme cooling such as liquid nitrogen or liquid helium. I wouldn't be surprised to see 4.5GHz out of these CPUs on a decent air cooling setup, and closer to 5GHz on water cooling. These are of course the upper limits to expect however, and not the average case by any means.

5.9 GHz lol, looks like liquid nitrogen or phase change.... doesn't look like normal air cooling. still, 2 grand?!?!? what the deuce?

5.9 GHz lol, looks like liquid nitrogen or phase change.... doesn't look like normal air cooling. still, 2 grand?!?!? what the deuce?

Yeah, the pic in the article shows a CPU temp probe reading -179 deg C.The 32 nm die may allow faster clocks, but there are six cores vs 4 as well, so not sure how much faster it will be with all those extra transistors along for the ride.Guess we'll find out when it hits the streets.CheersBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

It will be really interesting to see if the performance increase in FSX (if any) is just iterative due to the 32nm and clock speed or if there is a real step change in going from 4 to 6 cores. Hopefully the latter.Mark.

It will be really interesting to see if the performance increase in FSX (if any) is just iterative due to the 32nm and clock speed or if there is a real step change in going from 4 to 6 cores. Hopefully the latter.Mark.

I think we are going to see better performance due to clock speeds. Using the affinity setting inside the FSX config, I can tell you that one physical core is maxed while the other three physical cores are running at about 35 percent. If there is any increase from more physical cores, it might be due to the operating system spreading the load a bit.

980x has the same TDP as 975x at the same clockspeed with 50% more cores/threads and 50% more L3 cache. Therefore, we should expect it to overclock to comparable levels.

Trying to keep the 980X posts together...I read somewhere that more info about the 980x will be released next week by Intel AND the rumors of its release in March appear to be correct. I know I want one but planning on building my own system. I'm just wondering if the chip will be immediately released to individual consumers or to computer manufacturers first. I know this was a policy in the past and I'd hate to start getting parts for the new system and find out next month it won't be released to individuals for another 3-6 months. Does anyone have any info on this? I suspect this might be part of the info Intel will be releasing next week but thought maybe someone had heard already.Thanks!Jim

Trying to keep the 980X posts together...I read somewhere that more info about the 980x will be released next week by Intel AND the rumors of its release in March appear to be correct. I know I want one but planning on building my own system. I'm just wondering if the chip will be immediately released to individual consumers or to computer manufacturers first. I know this was a policy in the past and I'd hate to start getting parts for the new system and find out next month it won't be released to individuals for another 3-6 months. Does anyone have any info on this? I suspect this might be part of the info Intel will be releasing next week but thought maybe someone had heard already.Thanks!Jim

Yeah, lots of rumors but everything I have read seems to be pointing to March.Also of intrest is the new 970 which I think is 3rd qtr, its a quad on the new die, but rumors went back to "its a 6", now it looks as though it is really going to be a quad-six with disabled cores.I dont think six cores will do as much as compared to what the 32nm die will for FSX and that is O/C head room.I would wait to see how well it responds to various gaming benchmarks before shelling out that kind of money, who knows maybe even though it is 32nm the six core will actually hold it back, that one overclocked at 5.xxGhz does not look very impressive as it was on LN, but we will find out soon enough.

More info here: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3733

More info here: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3733

And even more update info here: http://techreport.com/articles.x/18415. Should learn more next week.Thanks!Jim

just got i7975 to 4.4 gig very easily on air using noctua cooler.Means i will wait atleast 1.5 years before even thinking of getiing golftown update.

just got i7975 to 4.4 gig very easily on air using noctua cooler.Means i will wait atleast 1.5 years before even thinking of getiing golftown update.

So how well does it run fsx?

Yeah, lots of rumors but everything I have read seems to be pointing to March.Also of intrest is the new 970 which I think is 3rd qtr, its a quad on the new die, but rumors went back to "its a 6", now it looks as though it is really going to be a quad-six with disabled cores.I dont think six cores will do as much as compared to what the 32nm die will for FSX and that is O/C head room.I would wait to see how well it responds to various gaming benchmarks before shelling out that kind of money, who knows maybe even though it is 32nm the six core will actually hold it back, that one overclocked at 5.xxGhz does not look very impressive as it was on LN, but we will find out soon enough.

I'm not too concerned with the GHz anymore. Just the number of cores as Phil Taylor, the lead developer of FSX, alluded to in his blog (and somewhere here on AVSIM): http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archive/2007...od-measure.aspx. That's what the chip makers have gone to in speed - Multicores not GHz. So far, six cores will be the winner. However, Phil indicates FSX wasn't fully designed for multicore CPU's but the team hoped to in future versions. So six might not have any affect on FSX performance. Best regards,Jim

I'm not too concerned with the GHz anymore. Just the number of cores as Phil Taylor, the lead developer of FSX, alluded to in his blog (and somewhere here on AVSIM): http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archive/2007...od-measure.aspx. That's what the chip makers have gone to in speed - Multicores not GHz. So far, six cores will be the winner. However, Phil indicates FSX wasn't fully designed for multicore CPU's but the team hoped to in future versions. So six might not have any affect on FSX performance. Best regards,Jim

Hope thats the case, though you see a jump from duel core to quad performance, in FSX it doesnt seem as much as how it responds to GHz (as long as it is a good strong chip, can hadle math well etc.)Would be great to see another 30-40% improvemnt out of the additional cores if we can get it and I'm all for that!