But is not ready for launch
We really expected the P55 chipset and what so far seems to be the Core i5 processor to launch at Computex held in Taipei, Taiwan during the first week of June, but from what we've heard today, this isn't the plan, although Intel's partners will be allowed to have boards on display.
It's highly unlikely there even will be a paper launch, as our understanding is that Intel is doing some re-jigging of the P55 chipset. We don't have any exact details of what is going on, but someone suggested to us that Intel might be bringing forward some features from the P57 chipset.
We're not sure when to expect the actual launch, as we've heard August-September from some and now we're hearing as late as October. Maybe Intel is biding their time, as they don't feel enough pressure from AMD and the Core 2 range is still doing pretty well in comparison to the Phenom II.
The Core i5 platform isn't exactly exciting, as it seems to have a lot of drawbacks and very few advantages to the consumer over the Core 2 platform and unless it offer something better, we doubt that people will bother to upgrade, especially considering the current economic climate, which could also be a reason why Intel is holding things back.
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