Taiwanese computing industry news site DigiTimes has had sources whisper in its ear that Intel Haswell refresh processors, and associated 9-Series motherboard designs, will be launched in early May. It reports that big motherboard players including ASUS and Gigabyte are geared up to release their updated product ranges at that time. Apparently Intel delayed its first Haswell refresh processor introduction at the request of the major motherboard players.
When in May will Intel start to release new processors which form the Haswell refresh range? Hermitage Akihabara points to Saturday 10th May, in time for the start of the Akihabara (Tokyo electric town) annual late-night sales. This Japanese site also has posted a number of roadmap slides, purportedly from Intel, which provide a quick overview of the new processor features and the Intel 9-Series chipset.
The first chip which is expected to become available is the Intel Core i7-4790K (not just in Japan but in other major markets). As the chips arrive they are expected to replace older Haswell models rather than complement them, offering improved performance at existing prices. Notably the new 9-Series motherboards feature enhancements such as fast M.2 SSD support. Please have a click through the slides to check through the features of the new processors and chipsets.
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DigiTimes expects the demand for new Intel 9-Series chipset motherboards to provide a welcome boost to sales for the aforementioned ASUS and Gigabyte. While these major PC component makers have sold about five million motherboards each during Q1 this year industry watchers expect an approximate 10 per cent boost in sales in the coming quarter thanks to the Haswell refresh.
