Intel plans to stop selling one of its high-enddesktop chips this year, less than one year after it was released, thecompany confirmed Thursday.
The 2.93GHz Core i7 940 processor is one of three desktop chips based onIntel’s Nehalem microarchitecture that were released in late 2008. Designedfor high-end PCs, the chip includes an on-chip memory controller and supportfor DDR3 memory and Intel’s QuickPath Interconnect technology.
The last date for customers to confirm orders for the Core i7 940 will beSept. 4, Intel said in a notice.
“We have communicated our shipment plans for Core i7 940 to our customers.
It is actively shipping and will ship through 2009.,” Intel spokesman NickJacobs wrote in an e-mail.
The Core i7 940 was caught between two more successful products. The 940didn’t sell as well as the 2.66GHz Core i7 920, which was significantlycheaper, and it couldn’t match the performance of the 3.2GHz Core i7 965Extreme Edition, according to a source at a Taiwanese motherboard maker.
Intel is expected to release more advanced desktop chips based on theNehalem microarchitecture later this year.
In February, the company announced plans to accelerate its shift to a32-nanometer manufacturing process and the upcoming Nehalem desktop chips,called Clarkdale, will be produced using this process. The more advancedmanufacturing process means Clarkdale should run faster and consume lesspower than existing Core i7 processors.
