CES: Intel Debuts More Quad-Core Processors
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01.09.2007—At the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Intel formally debuted three new chips in its quad-core series, dubbed Intel Core 2 Quad. Unlike the previous models announced back in October, the new chips are targeted toward the "mainstream" personal computer market.
Quad-core 'mainstream' chips
The new Core 2 Quad chips sport four processing cores. Intel says it's "actively working with software developers on threading applications and next-generation games that will be able to take advantage of quad-core microprocessors. The four cores make quad-core based computers the ideal choice for processor intensive, highly threaded applications such as Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro 2.0" and other processor-intensive applications.
The new Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q6600 (2.4GHz) is currently being demonstrated at CES and is available now for manufacturers.
New quad-core Xeons
Intel also introduced two new quad-core Xeon processors for the server market, the Intel Xeon 3200-series processors. They're available at clock speeds of 2.4 GHz and 2.13 GHz with a 1.066 GHz frontside bus and 8 MB level-2 cache.
Intel began shipping quad-core processors back in October in its Xeon and Core 2 Extreme chip series. Those new chips, available in a variety of configurations, are tailored for high-end servers and workstations but should make their way into the mainstream by the first quarter of next year. They include the Xeon 5300 series, which utilizes four CPU cores on a single chip. Intel says this new chip delivers a 50 percent performance improvement over the Dual-Core Intel Xeon 5100, which began shipping about five months ago. And it comes in at the same price as its predecessor. Four versions of the Xeon 5300 began shipping today at clock speeds ranging from 1.6 GHz to 2.66 GHz with frontside bus speeds ranging from 1,066 MHz to 1,333 MHz. Dell, HP and IBM have all announced new systems that integrate the Xeon 5300.
On the mobile and desktop front, Intel also introduced its quad-core Intel Core 2 Extreme chip back in October. Dual-core Intel Core 2 chips are presently being used by a variety of system manufacturers, from Apple to Dell, in notebook and desktop systems. The quad-core version QX6700 offers up to 80 percent faster performance, according to Intel. The QX6700 is available at 2.66 GHz with a 1,066 MHz frontside bus. It runs on Intel's current 975X Express chipset family.
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About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at [email protected].
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