How/Why Did Intel Name the i7 Extreme?

[ascalice]

Why? Why didnt they just name it the core i9? They planned on naming it the i9 but switched the name to i7 extreme. Anyone know why?

 

[Rakehellion]

Well, it is exactly the same as an i7 but with more cache and doesn't add any new features.

 

[norseamd]

spiritual reasons?

 

[witeken]

Very likely for marketing reasons; they choose the product names.

 

[zir_blazer]

Possibly to keep alive the Extreme Edition branding from the Pentium 4 EE Gallatin times as their Desktop top dog. I do agree that LGA 2011 Desktop Processors shouldn't use the Core i7 branding from the mainstream LGAs (Or the other way around). Its confusing.

 

[LoveMachine]

They hired the same marketing agency as Mountain Dew.

 

[SPBHM]

i9 would decrease the "value" from the other i7s a little bit more...
or maybe 7 is better? I don't know, and extreme is more extreme, I think.

 

[TuxDave]

Because it's cool to call things EXTREEEEEME!

 

[NTMBK]

Because they want to remind everyone about the dark days of the Pentium 4 Emergency Edition?

 

[crashtech]

Because they are Extremely expensive. Truth in advertising.

 

[wabbitslayer]

The sad truth is that if you have to ask, you won't get it even if you're told.

It's extreme, dood.

 

[crashtech]

If you have to ask, you can't afford it? As if they should sell them at Barneys NY without the price displayed?

 

[pantsaregood]

Simple.

9 isn't prime. 3, 5, and 7 are prime. Any consumer-oriented CPU that falls above the i7 line will be i11.

Real answer, though: Intel's naming convention makes no sense, and it has fallen apart since the release of Ivy Bridge.

Nehalem and Gulftown (die shrink of Nehalem) represented the "first generation" of Core CPUs.
Sandy Bridge represented the "second generation" of Core CPUs.
Ivy Bridge (die shrink of Sandy Bridge) and Sandy Bridge-E represented the "third generation" of Core CPUs.
Haswell and Ivy Bridge-E represent the "fourth generation" of Core CPUs.

Why does a die-shrink constitute a new generation? Why is a CPU built on the Sandy Bridge architecture (Ivy Bridge-E) considered part of the same generation as Haswell?

 

[Racan]

I don't think Intel calls Ivy Bridge-E 4th gen, at least they don't on their ark site.

http://ark.intel.com/products/family/75023/4th-Generation-Intel-Core-i7-Processors/desktop

 

[Torn Mind]

Simple.

9 isn't prime. 3, 5, and 7 are prime. Any consumer-oriented CPU that falls above the i7 line will be i11.

Real answer, though: Intel's naming convention makes no sense, and it has fallen apart since the release of Ivy Bridge.

Nehalem and Gulftown (die shrink of Nehalem) represented the "first generation" of Core CPUs.
Sandy Bridge represented the "second generation" of Core CPUs.
Ivy Bridge (die shrink of Sandy Bridge) and Sandy Bridge-E represented the "third generation" of Core CPUs.
Haswell and Ivy Bridge-E represent the "fourth generation" of Core CPUs.

Why does a die-shrink constitute a new generation? Why is a CPU built on the Sandy Bridge architecture (Ivy Bridge-E) considered part of the same generation as Haswell?

Sandy Bridge started the whole LGA 2011/LGA1155 confusion. The i7-38xx and 39xx lines were Sandy Bridge-E but were part of the same generation as Sandy Bridge. It is just that the server lines are updated more slowly than the mainstream parts; hence, Ivy Bridge-E was released after Haswell hit the mainstream.

 

[Pheesh]

Ivy bridge-E isn't considered same gen as Haswell core line

 

[Terzo]

They hired the same marketing agency as Mountain Dew.

This one drew a chuckle from me. Well played.

 

[OCGuy]

Marketing 101.

 

[john3850]

How does intel hand pick there extreme chips other then lowest voltage needed.

 

[crashtech]

I personally believe they are just E5-1660 v2s that have high leakage and have ECC capability and a few other things fused off.

 

[hhhd1]

they have :

Celeron < Pentium < i3 < i5 < i7

is there really place for another one ?

 

[pantsaregood]

Ivy Bridge-E is considered the same generation as Haswell, just as Sandy Bridge-E is considered the same generation as Ivy Bridge.

The first digit of the product number (2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx) represents the generation that the CPU belongs to.

 

[aigomorla]

Why? Why didnt they just name it the core i9? They planned on naming it the i9 but switched the name to i7 extreme. Anyone know why?

here's one to throw you off track... but the microcode on the original ES's for Gulftown were i9's

Of course... intel decided to relabel them and call it the i7 980X.

 

[nitromullet]

Ivy Bridge-E is considered the same generation as Haswell, just as Sandy Bridge-E is considered the same generation as Ivy Bridge.

The first digit of the product number (2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx) represents the generation that the CPU belongs to.

If you look only at the marketing numbers, yes.

...tick, tock says otherwise.

Of course, from a marketing standpoint I understand that Intel could not have released an i7 2960X after the i7 3770K had already been released as their top processor, so they named it a 3960K.

In some respects naming SB-E the i9 2960X, as the OP suggests, would have made sense. The generation would have been right, but the 9 would designate it as a superior chip to the i7.

 

[crashtech]

i9 would have been appropriate, too, since a hexcore with HT is a lot like three i3s stuck together.