Intel quietly refreshed its Sandy Bridge CPU lineup today with three new Core i5 processors and four new Celeron-based processors. The new i5 processors are designed for desktops; the top performer is the i5-2550K, which has four cores that run at 3.4GHz (or 3.8GHz when Turbo Boost is maxed out); this processor is priced at $225 and looks like the obvious successor to the i5-2500K, which we included in our killer gaming rig late last year. The other i5 models, the 2450P and 2380P, are both clocked a little slower (3.2GHz and 3.1GHz, respectively), but all three new models also lack graphics processors — Intel let us know that these graphics-less models are designed specifically for desktop systems with add-in graphics and that the company is looking to "provide customers with more choice and design flexibility."

As for the Celeron models, the 797 and 867 are low-power 17W models; the 797 is a single-core running at 1.4GHz, while the dual-core 867 runs at 1.3GHz. There's also two cheaper models with a higher power consumption of 35W — the B720 is a single-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz, while the dual-core B815 runs at 1.6GHz. Three of the Celerons best the outgoing models by 100MHz in their clock speed, while the B815 betters its predecessor with an increase of 100MHz in the GPU speed (but the same processor clock speed). These new processors should be available now, so check them out and get building.