Intel 2.66 GHz Bloomfield said to cost under $300

The Nehalem architecture is still a few months away and it has already provided us with a few ups and downs, with the latter category including the apparent decision to release the more pocket-friendly LGA 1160 platforms only in Q3 2009. Lacking QPI and triple-channel DDR3 memory support, the more affordable Lynnfield and Havendale processors are thus a year away but, as the latest info suggests they might not be missed all that much as the upcoming Bloomfield CPUs will also come at reasonable prices.

Paired up with X58 motherboards, the quad-core, 8-threaded, LGA1366 Bloomfields will be released in Q4 and will come clocked at 2.66, 2.93 and 3.2 GHz. The 3.2 GHz model will be Extreme-branded and cost $999 while the 2.93 GHz CPU will be priced at $562 (1000-unit tray quantities). As for the 2.66 GHz processor, it will have a price tag of $284, lower than that of the 2.66 GHz Yorkfield aka Core 2 Quad Q9450. Hopefully Intel will bring even cheaper Bloomfield CPUs in 2009. Until then, save those (Euro) cents.