Intel is working on P55 Express, this chipset will replace the P45 and will be launched in the third quarter of next year, in time for the launch of the Lynnfield and Havendale processors. Havendale and Lynnfield, will be based on Nehalem architecture aka Core i7, in the desktop segment (first half 2009). These Quad core processors Lynnfield LGA 1160 will be limited to a TDP value not over 95 W
P55 supports both Lynnfield 45nm Nehalem-based quad-cores and IGP dual-core Nehalem codenamed Havendale. It looks that Lynnfield will launch in Q3 2009, while Havendale will slip to Q1 2010. The chipset supports one PCIe 16X or two eight-speed PCIe cards and it is a single chip architecture. It is pin compatible with future Intel 5 series chipsets, but we are not sure if it’s also compatible with the X58.
When it comes to input / output capabilities we are talking about support for 14 USB 2.0 ports with integrated USB 2.0 Rate matching hubs, 6 SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports and an integrated Gigabit LAN. The chipset also supports Integrated Clocking Buffer Through Mode, provides Thermal Sensor Data via SMBUS for discrete Fan Control Solutions and Intel Matrix Storage Technology 9.0. New Intel matrix storage has a new user interface for managing all storage related tasks, support for RAID 0,1,5 and 10, Rapid recover technology and FIS-based port multiplier support on 2 SATA ports.
