It’s Official! Intel’s Lynnfield Core i5 and i7 are now available.

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It’s now official, Intel has launched three new processors today, all based on the Lynnfield core and the new socket 1156, which requires a motherboard with a P55 chipset, which I’ll talk about after. Let’s start with the three new processors available today:

Intel Core i5 750:

Best bang for the buck

The most interesting one in my opinion is the Intel Core i5 750, with is running at 2.66GHz, with 8MB of L3 Cache, has a TPD of 95W and is a quad-core processor.

Priced at $209.99, it is about $50 cheaper than the fastest AMD processor, the Phenom II X4 965 BE, while being faster as well. It is also a great alternative to the Core i7 920, as it performs nearly on par, except for video conversions and highly multithreaded programs, as the core i7 920 supports HT, unlike the Core i5 750 which does not.

Intel Core i7 860:

Reasonable cost and reasonable TPD for a HT-enabled powerhouse

Then, you have the Intel Core i7 860, which runs at 2.8GHz, also features 8MB of L3 Cache, has a TPD of 95W and is quad-core processor. What makes this model interesting is the fact that it supports HT (Hyperthreading), allowing it to run 8 threads at the same time.

While it’s a bit more expensive than the Core i7 920, the motherboard will most likely cost you less, same for the RAM (dual channel instead of triple, so you need less sticks), it is also 140MHz faster and consumes less power (95W vs 130W)

Intel Core i7 870:

Overpriced “High-end” part

Finally, you have the Intel Core i7 870, identical to the Core i7 860, except that it runs at 2.93GHz. Oh, and it costs nearly twice as much, $579.99. Then again, it is currently the fastest processor for the socket 1156, which is why Intel priced it as such.

Which is why you should avoid it in my opinion. You’re better off with a Intel Core i7-950 which cost $10 less and runs at 3.06GHz instead of 2.93Ghz. Why pay more for a slower solution on a  mainstream platform compared to a faster solution on a high-end platform?

P55, socket 1156 based motherboards:

Well priced, with plenty of features

I took a look at Amazon and NewEgg for you, to find the best deals on motherboards on launch day. Here’s what I found. If you find a better deal, please share it with us in the comments section:

Best price:

ASUS P55 P755D
At $139, this is ASUS entry-level P55 motherboard.

From MSI:

MSI P55-GD65, priced at $159.99

ASUS mainstream P55 motherboard:

ASUS P7P55D EVO, priced at $189.99

Gigabyte high-end P55 motherboard:

GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD6, priced at $249.99

Conclusion

With the launch of the Core i5 750, Intel will hurt AMD’s high-end Phenom II processors, which no longer have the best bang for the buck at the $200-250 price range. It is my opinion that AMD will cut their prices in order to be competitive again in that market segment.

While the Core i7 920 offers solid performance, it was very hard for many to justify the $290 for the cpu, $200+ for the motherboard and $100+ for the RAM, for a total of at least $600 for the platform, especially while AMD had a solid platform offering similar performance for $350 (CPU: $200, Motherboard: $100, RAM: $50)

With the Core i5 750, Intel cuts that price gap, has it finally has a product based on the Nehalem that is affordable, with a platform (CPU, motherboard and RAM) cost of about $425, while offering superior performance compared to the AMD platform.

As for the Core i7 860 and 870, they will certainly help Intel establish a good user base on the socket 1156 and solidify their grab on the mainstream and high-end cpu market.

Now the question is: How will AMD react to Intel’s core i5 launch?