According to bit-tech and some unnamed sources close to Intel, the company is planning to release a six-core Nehalem processor sometime this year, probably around September when the first Lynnfield chips and P55 motherboards are expected to arrive. This latest Intel chip is said to be compatible with LGA1366 sockets and should work with existing X58 boards after a BIOS update; which apparently most vendors have already deployed.

It will sit at the top end alongside the Core i7 975 EE on this platform as Intel will be phasing the rest of its Core i7 processors out - even the Core i7 950 announced last week. The new processor may not be marketed with the Core i7 label though. Pricing details are also missing for now, but you can expect this CPU to be crazily expensive if and when it arrives.