All in Q4 2011
We have mentioned the socket LGA2011 and that the recently launched Core i7 990X will be replaced by Sandy Bridge E high end CPUs.
This won’t be the only CPU to get replaced in Q4 2011. The Core i7 990X is the last stop for Intel’s six-core Gulftown architecture and Sandy Bridge E definitely sounds 32nm to us. Core i7 970 also gets replaced with a Sandy Bridge E but we don’t know any specifics or the exact spec.
The recently introduced Core i7 2600K unlocked Sandy Bridge Socket 1155 will also be replaced by a similar iteration of Sandy Bridge E 2011.
This happens before Q4 2011, the alleged launch timeframe for Ivy Bridge, but we also know the new 22nm part won’t get to the real high end. The overclocking high-end market remains reserved for socket LGA2011 parts.
