Intel finally decided to show off its new Extreme Edition line of processors with the release of the long-awaited Pentium Extreme Edition 955. Replacing the Extreme Edition 840, the chip has a dual-core design with a clock speed of 3.46GHz. Sure, it may not be a huge jump from the 840’s 3.2GHz clockspeed, but the processor does double the Level 2 cache to 4MB and increases the side bus clock speed to 1066MHz. It also features hyperthreading and supports Intel’s virtualization technology (the ability to simultaneously run more than one operating system on a given platform in a secure mode). But what makes this a real boon for Intel is that the 955 is manufactured using a 65-nanometer process, as opposed to the 90nm at which the rest of the industry is stuck. This, hopefully, will mean cheaper prices at the stores for us. Intel hopes to have the Pentium Extreme Edition 955 available on January 16 for $999.
Intel releases new Pentium Extreme Edition 955 CPU [Ars Technica]
