Although Intel Corp. was supposed to update its lineup of ultra high-end Core i7 Extreme Edition microprocessors in the second quarter, according to its own plans, the company decided to postpone release of its fastest code-named "Sandy Bridge-E" chip to the fourth quarter. In Q4 2012 the chip giant is projected to release Core i7-3970X central processing unit.

Intel Core i7-3970X will have six cores with Hyper-Threading technology, 15MB of cache, quad-channel memory controller and will operate at 3.50GHz with 4GHz maximum turbo frequency, reports DonanimHaber web-site. Just like the current top-of-the-range extreme edition microprocessor, the model 3970X will use LGA2011 form-factor, but will have 150W thermal design power, a 20W increase compared to the existing model.

As reported previously, the delay of Intel Corp.'s code-named "Ivy Bridge" microprocessor has apparently caused massive shift in the chipmaker's roadmap. The world's largest chipmaker will not release enthusiast-class "Ivy Bridge-E" central processing unit (CPU) in 2012. Based on previously published information, Intel will not release its six-core or eight-core Ivy Bridge-E chips either this year or in the first half of 2013. Moreover, with the next-generation Haswell launching in late Q1 or Q2 2013, the destiny of the Ivy Bridge-E seems to be somewhat gloomy as the former may challenge the latter in terms of performance.

Given the fact that Intel's enthusiast-class platforms cannot be challenged by its arch-rival Advanced Micro Devices these days, the company did not need an update for its LGA2011 platform early this year.

Intel did not comment on the news-story.

Tags: Intel, Ivy Bridge, Ivy Bridge-E, 32nm, Sandy Bridge, Sandy Bridge-E, Core