Intel to chop 1066MHz FSB CPUs earlier than expected?

Intel wants to get us all computing over a 1333MHz frontside bus pronto and to that end is to drop a stack of 1066MHz-only processors through Q3 and Q4, Taiwanese motherboard maker moles have claimed.

The chip giant is expected to introduce 1333MHz FSB Core 2 Duo CPUs on 22 July, and according to a DigiTimes report, many existing 1066MHz FSB Core 2 Duos - specifically the E6300, E6320, E6420, E6600 and E6700 - will be discontinued in Q4. So too, its sources suggest, will the Core 2 Extreme QX6800 and the last remaining Pentium Ds, the 915 and 935.

The Pentium 4 6xx family will be marked for termination in August, the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 in September, it's said.

Next month is set to see the arrival of the 3GHz Core 2 Duo E6850, Intel's first dual-core chip capable of operating on a 1333MHz frontside bus. It will be joined by the 2.66GHz E6750, the 2.33GHz E6550 and the 2.33GHz E6540. The 2.66GHz quad-cire Core 2 Quad Q6700 is due on the same day.

Also set to ship in Q3 is the 3GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6850, again a 1333MHz FSB part.

Intel formally announced its 1333MHz FSB-supporting 3 series of chipsets - codenamed 'Bearlake' - earlier this month, though some of them have been going out to mobo makers for a few months now. DigiTimes' moles reckon more 3-series chipsets are on the way to further drive adoption of the 1333MHz FSB.