Santa Clara (CA) - Intel sent out notifications today that several Core 2 processors are being discontinued.  These include the X6800 Extreme Core 2, as well as Core 2 Duo models E6600, E6700, E6300, E6420 and E6320.  Intel is not accepting any processor orders after March, 2008.  Intel will continue to ship boxed processors up until May, 2008, and tray processors will be shipped until June, 2009.

A boxed processor is the retail processors consumers buy in the store, typically with a heatsink + fan.  Tray processors are a method of bulk packaging.  These are typically sent in large quantities to OEMs like Dell for custom PC building.  The X6800 clocks at 2.93 GHz.  The E6600, E6700, E6300, E6420 and E6320 clock at 2.4 GHz, 2.67 GHz, 1.86 GHz, 2.13 GHz and 1.86 GHz respectively.

Intel routinely discontinues older processors as new processors are available.  This includes stepping changes to processors, motherboards, wireless components, etc.  With 45nm Penryn products shipping in Q1'08, the migration is pretty much on track and expected.

Read more ... Intel's discontinuance notification PDF.