Introduction

In the current market our CPUs are multi-core. It is almost unheard of to have a CPU with a single core, unless you are buying a netbook or a very low-end system. Starting at the mainstream level the dual core is king. You find them in all shapes and sizes. Moving up, AMD has their tri cores. From there both AMD and Intel have quads and finally Intel has the quad with Hyper Threading; the 8 thread monster called the Core i7.

Well, Intel is looking to add a new level at the very top. This is a 6 core, 12 thread behemoth called Gulftown. Once it hits the retail channels it will be the Core i7-980X. But Gulftown is more than just 6 cores on a CPU die. Intel has moved to 32nm and also stuffed in some new instructions (including AES encryption).

So, let's see what you can expect from this new monster and if it will be worth looking at.