The Non-Disclosure Agreements today have expired with Intel in regards to their second-generation dual-core processors. The Intel Pentium EE (Extreme Edition) 955 is the first of many processors to come that relies upon the 65nm manufacturing process. This new processor is not to be confused with Intel's i955X Chipset. Other features for the new 955 CPU include 2MB of L2 cache per core, 1066MHz FSB, 3.46GHz frequency, and Intel Virtualization Technology. Thanks to the new manufacturing process of 65nm over 90nm, the operating voltage is 1.2000v - 1.3375v and the transistor count is up to 376 million, or about 72 million more than what can be found in the NVIDIA GeForce 7800GTX 256MB GPU.

Below are a few of the English previews available this morning from various Windows sites.

Viper Lair
Legit Reviews
Nordic Hardware
X-bit Labs
Hexus

The MSRP for this new EE processor is $999.00 USD and should begin appearing in your favorite stores on January 16, 2006. Of course, this is only a small portion of what's to come from Intel next year with Yonah and Cedar Mill and the i975X Chipset among others. We hope to be delivering Linux results with Intel's latest-and-greatest early next year.