Intel's Nehalem chips arrive early?

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Intel's long-awaited consumer-level Nehalem-based Lynnfield processors and motherboards are already available in Asia in "small volumes", ahead of their expected launch early next month, say reports.

A DigiTimes reports quoted some sources who said that the socket-1156 processors - the Core i5-750, Core i7-860, and Core i7-870 - are available in "some retail channels in Taiwan and China," along with motherboards based on the new P-55 chipset.

Lynnfield chips are desktop microprocessors based on Intel's Nehalem chip architecture. They carry four processing cores each and have been branded Core i5 and Core i7 for world markets.

The sources also said that the chips are priced at about $207 for the Core i5-750, $303 for the Core i7-860, and $576 for the Core i7-870, and that that all three chips have an 8MB L3 Cache, a TDP of 95 watts, and support dual-channel DDR3 memory.

The release of the processors for sale to consumers was meant to happen on September 8.

However, an Intel spokesperson declined to comment on the report, saying that it wouldn't discuss unannounced products.