Specifications for AMD's six-core desktop processors, codenamed 'Thuban', have seemingly been confirmed by Gigabyte a month before their expected release. The Taiwanese manufacturer temporarily updated its CPU Support List with two new additions – the 2.6GHz Phenom II X6 1035T and 2.8GHz Phenom II X6 1055T.
Both chips are built on the same 45nm process as Deneb and come equipped with 6MB of shared L3 cache and 512KB of L2 per core. They are also expected to be compatible with AM2+ and AM3 motherboards, presumably after a BIOS update, and have an integrated DDR3 controller. Gigabyte has since taken down the information, but a separate leak from Bahrain-based retailer Advanti Online quotes the same specs and throws in pricing details for good measure.
Citing AMD as its source, the retailer's Facebook page lists the 2.8GHz Phenom II X6 1055T with a 125W thermal envelope and a $199 price tag. While there's no mention of the lesser 1035T model, an overclocker-friendly Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition processor running at 3.2 GHz will reportedly arrive priced at $295. Both chips will cost much, much less than an Intel 6-core CPU but should also perform on another level.
If the prices are indeed correct, the top of the line Phenom II X6 would go against Intel's freshly released Core i7 930, which is a 45nm Bloomfield quad core with a 130W TDP, 8MB shared L3 cache and running at 2.80GHz. The Phenom II X6 1055T, meanwhile, could fight it out with the Lynnfield Core i5 750 in the $200 price range.