Several online stores have begun offering their clients the much-talked-about Intel Core i7 microprocessors ahead of Intel’s official deadline on the 17^th of November. The situation could be easily foreseen since Intel Corp. began shipping its code-named Bloomfield processors for revenue a long time ago.

At least some stores listed at Froogle.com, PriceWatch.com and Shopping.com offer to order various Intel Core i7 processors now and promise to ship them within three days, which means that if a customer is lucky enough, he or she will get the chip already this week, ahead of the official commercial launch date. Meanwhile, some stores claim that the chips are for pre-order only and will ship or even arrive to the store on the 17^th.

It is interesting to note that stores in Europe do not fall behind online shops in the U.S.: according to Geizhals.at price-search engine, there are tens of opportunities to acquire Intel Core i7 central processing unit (CPU) in Europe too.

In addition to microprocessors themselves, it is also not hard to acquire mainboard that supports chips in LGA1366 form-factor, appropriate cooling system as well as triple-channel DDR3 memory module kit designed specifically for Core i7/Bloomfield processors.

Obviously, since the new CPUs or supporting components are not officially available for sale, customers have to prepare themselves to pay higher price premium. However, die-hard enthusiasts interested in getting the newest and highest-performing products will gladly pay higher price just to get the novelties as soon as possible.

Initially there are three Intel Core i7/Bloomfield processors for high-performance desktops available:

• Intel Core i7 955 Extreme Edition at 3.20GHz for $999 (in 1000-unit quantities)
• Intel Core i7 940 at 2.93GHz for $562 (in 1000-unit quantities)
• Intel Core i7 920 at 2.66GHz for $284 (in 1000-unit quantities)

All three chips have 4 cores, 1MB L2 cache (256KB per core), 8MB unified L3 cache, triple-channel DDR3 memory controller, simultaneous multi-threading technology. The new central processing units will require Intel X58-based motherboard with LGA1366 socket as well as sophisticated CPU cooler since all chips feature 130W thermal design power.

Tags: Intel, Core, Core i7, Nehalem, Bloomfield, X58, 45nm