The X series has always been ahead of the curve, but priced astronomically expensive, usually well above the equivalent Xeon part. The i7 was introduced as a 4

The X series has always been ahead of the curve, but priced astronomically expensive, usually well above the equivalent Xeon part. The i7 was introduced as a 4-core part and only now have they started to shift that to 6-core by default. If their initial trend with Core continued we'd be at 16+ by now.