Today, Intel sent out notification that its Core i7 940 2.93GHz processor will get the axe and a super sudden death attack in order to make way for the new chip on the block, the Core i7 950 at 3.06GHz.

Since the launch of the Nehalem platform in November 2008, the Core i7 family has received a moderately low adoption rate by the average consumer due to the nature of the platform’s overall cost. Not to mention, recent comments by Nvidia support the claim that high-end consumers would rather prefer dual-GPU benefits over a Core i7, even the least expensive 920 model.

On another note, it is interesting that the Core i7 C0 stepping is retiring so early, although this was more for cosmetic purposes rather than performance improvements. Intel states “market demand for the Intel Core i7 940 Processor has shifted to other Intel processors” and advises that tray processors will ship until November 5, 2010, while all retail packaged customers should switch to tray (OEM) orders for long-term support.

The last ship date for boxed processors will be December 4, 2009 while tray orders will be extended all the way until November 5, 2010. This puts shipments of the original Core i7 well into the life of the upcoming 32nm generation, and we are glad to see Intel offering extended support for its first generation LGA 1366 chips.