Information about Intel's P55<

Also known as "Ibex peak" the Intel P55 Express chipset generally replaces the traditional role of the Southbridge chips the future architecture of Intel. According to information that appeared online at the VR-Zone tech web site, P55 will support Intel's LGA1160 quad-core "Lynnfield" CPU and the dual-core "Havendale" processors. It will offer support for discrete graphics (1x16 or 2x8), and it seems to retain Intel's DMI chip-to-chip interconnect and not the QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) found on the X58 chipset.

Key I/O features include 14 USB 2.0 ports, 8 PCIe 2.0 x1 ports, 6 SATA 3.0Gb/s ports, Gigabit Ethernet and Intel Matrix Storage Technology 9.0 (IMST 9.0) with FIS based port multiplier support on SATA ports.

The P55 is scheduled to be available in third-quarter 2009.

In related news, Intel plans to release five new 35W desktop Core 2 Duo processors before the end of the year. These will include the T9800, Q9000, P9600, T9550 and T8700, with prices staring from $240~$530. The introduction of these new GPUs will allow Intel to reduce pricing for the current top-end Core 2 Duo P8600 processor in the beginning of 2009.