Santa Clara (CA) – I have to admit, this one has caught me by surprise. Intel is still rolling out its Nehalem processors, there are just three i7 desktop CPUs available, the Xeon 5500 was launched just a few weeks ago and we haven’t seen any mobile or true mainstream Nehalems yet. However, Intel thinks, it is time to retire one of its i7 processors already.
The company notified its partners that the 2.93 GHz Core i7-940 CPU is being phased out. Final shipments of tray and boxed versions are planned for November 5, 2010 and December 4, 2009. The chips will be officially “unavailable” after the final order date – September 4, 2009. The last non-cancelable i7-940 orders will be taken by Intel on July 10.
The company did not provide any reasons why this processor is being phased out. However, the timing of the announcement is somewhat unusual, as the CPU has not been on the market for even just one year and Intel is far from having rolled out mainstream Nehalem processors yet.
The 940 was introduced along the 920 and Extreme 965 models late last year. The CPu is currently sold for a tray price of $562.
