If loose lips sink ships then those mobo vendors in ol’ Taipei could down an armada in a single lunch break. As the Bismarck goes under, we’re learning that Intel’s socket 1156 Lynnfield chips are edging closer to a September 8-11 introduction.

Intel has previously granted Lynnfield an ambiguous autumn launch window, but recent rumors emerging from the Orient have helped to cement a day. These rumors are not entirely unfounded, as it is mid-July and the ducks better be lining up if the world’s largest processor company hopes to launch on time.

Parts alleged to be on tap for the launch include:

• Core 2 Extreme (2GHz)
• Core 2 Quad P2 (1.73GHz)
• Core 2 Quad P1 (1.6GHz)
• Xeon W5590
• Xeon W3580
• Xeon W3550
• Xeon L5530

Meanwhile, other publications have reported that the enthusiast mainstream parts (screw you, Intel branding) will clock in at 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz and 2.93GHz.

Intel is smack dab in the middle of a process they’re touting as “aggressive brand simplification.” In addition to new logos that took effect for all their processors on April 1, the company is also adopting a system of stars to rate the performance of their processors.

Valid for a period between April 1 and September 30, the five-star system gives retail workers and their customers the ability to quickly evaluate the heart of an Intel box at a glance. A five star CPU gives you the power to “maximize your computing speed and possibilities” through “ultimate intelligence and breakthrough technologies.” Er, right.

spinspinitsforcustomers!spinspinspin

Right now the chart actually looks pretty good. The Q9000 series is a few percentage points ahead of the Q8000 series. The QX9000 series does indeed stand on even ground with the fresh Core i7s, and all the proper performance points are respected on the mobile side of the equation. Honesty in marketing? Great googly moogly!

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Digitimes says Intel price cuts are coming, as well as new processors. It looks like the energy saving S-series quads will get most of the cuts early on, with the mainstream processors seeing a price drop in July. Here’s the dish:

April 19 cuts:

• Core 2 Quad Q9300 price cut from $266 to $213 (19.92%)
• Core 2 Quad Q9550S price cut from $369 to $320 (13.28%)
• Core 2 Quad Q9400S price cut from $320 to $277 (13.44%)
• Core 2 Quad Q8200S price cut from $245 to $213 (13.06%)

July 19 cuts:

• Core 2 Quad Q8300 price cut from $183 to $163 (10.93%)
• Core 2 Duo E7500 price cut from $133 to $113 (15.04%)
• Pentium E5400 price cut from $84 to $74 (11.90%)
• Pentium E5300 price cut from $74 to $64 (13.51%)
• Celeron E1500 price cut from $53 to $43 (18.87%)

New releases hit April 19 and May 31. The big May release has our interest piqued due to the inclusion of new Core i7 models. We can only hope they’ll mean price cuts for the existing line. The Core 2 Duo E7600 is another chip we anticipate will be popular with budget gamers. The release coordinates nicely with this year’s ExPO Icrontic, and should bode well for anyone needing to assemble a LAN box to take to the event.

April 19 releases:

• Core 2 Quad Q8400 will cost $183
• Core 2 Quad Q8400S will cost $245

May 31 releases:

• Core i7 975 will cost $999
• Core i7 950 will cost $562
• Core 2 Duo E7600 will cost $133
• Pentium Dual-Core E6300 will cost $84
• Celeron Dual-Core E1600 will cost $53

Operating within a 65w thermal envelope, Intel has released three new models to their Core 2 Quad series which are intended to satisfy low power computing requirements.

Intel has introduced new Intel® Core™2 Quad processors with a 65 Watt thermal design power specification, much lower than the 95 Watt rating for previous similar Intel quad core processors. These new, power-efficient parts are designed for sleek and cool desktop PC designs. Intel is shipping three new processors to support a range of system options.

Now that you’ve read the PR, click the jump to read about the useful bits.

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Rumors are flying that Apple may release a new quad core MacBook Pro in coming days. It seems Intel quietly released a mobile 2.53GHz Core 2 Quad 9000 processor while everyone was distracted with the holidays, and the only company out there who has said anything about using it is Acer.

Mac fans think the chip is too swank to be given such hush-hush treatment, and are hoping Apple and Intel worked a deal where Intel would keep clam about the processor until Apple could make a big announcement at MacWorld. It seems like a stretch, but you can’t complain about powerhouse processors in small packages.

Also in the world of small packages and Apple, buzz is also growing around speculation that a revised Mac Mini will be released at MacWorld this year. We’ll wait and see.

Santa Clara CPU firm Intel has released their November/December tray prices which has quietly revealed the introduction of three new CPUs.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300
2.5GHz Yorkfield (45nm)
4MB L3 cache
1333GT/s FSB
$224 MSRP

Intel Pentium E5300
2.6GHZ Wolfdale (45nm)
2MB L2 cache
800GT/s FSB
$86 MSRP

Intel Celeron E1500
2.2GHz Allendale (65nm)
512k L2 cache
800GT/s FSB
$53 MSRP

It’s the holiday season, and that means it’s time to send yourself spiraling into crushing debt made possible by the power of plastic. While you could responsibly commit to a reasonable budget, we know that the seductive potential of a $600 PC that isn’t terrible may be too much for your feeble will. If you’re looking for a little rationalization to pull the trigger, chalk it up to aiding our abyss of an economy.

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