Quad-Core Processors: Coming Soon from Intel

Just when you thought Dual Core was all the rage -- leading chip producer, Intel Corporation, has recently launched a new series of chips that boasts four computing engines inside a single microprocessor.

Labelled the "quad-core" processors, Intel promises that this innovative line of processors will undoubtedly be able to handle much more complex jobs at once over models that have only one or two ("dual") processing cores.

This is great news for Intel, who is currently on the losing end of an ongoing battle with smaller, but (recently) much more effective competitor Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD). Intel has been losing significant market shares to its rival company and hopes that the quad-core processors will help retrieve these losses. (Source: mercurynews.com)

Intel and AMD had equally expressed interest in the quad-core processing unit, with both promising to establish the product by mid-2007. However, Intel apparently increased production in an effect to gain this significant leverage over their competition. (Source: technology.canoe.ca)

Intel produced four processors for servers under the Xeon 5300 label and another processor under the Core 2 Extreme label. These much more advanced processing units will target computer gamers, hi-tech programmers and those that wish to tackle multiple computing tasks at once.

The Xeon 5300 chips contain the same amount of power as in previous models, but when utilized in a quad-core processor, the chips will be much more apt at boosting performance. Likewise, the Core 2 Extreme chips are already 80% faster than in previous models. (Source: technology.canoe.ca)

Representatives from AMD were unnerved by the recent announcement, relying on their cheaper and equally fast models to win the ongoing battle with Intel. The company has promised an eventual smooth transaction to quad-core chips.

It is apparent that AMD has already impacted the financial health of Intel. In an effort to save up to $3 billion annually, Intel was forced to reduce staff by 10% in September of this year.

Intel plans to produce three more quad-core processor in the first quarter of 2007. A processor called Core 2 Quad will appeal to those seeking entertainment and multimedia capabilities, while the Xeon processor will be made available to appeal to those who appreciate low-voltage use. (Source: mercurynews.com)