Intel today officially announced its Core 2 Duo processors, dubbing the desktop “Conroe” and the laptop-use “Merom” chips “the best processors in the world”. Intel also cut other selected processors prices by as much as 60 percent.
“The Core 2 Duo processors are simply the best processors in the world,” said Paul Otellini, president and chief executive of Intel in a statement annoncing the new chips. “Not since Intel introduced the Pentium processor has the industry seen the heart of the computer reinvented like this.”
Systems based on the new desktop chips will begin in early August; “Merom” based laptops will ship near the end of that month. Customers with the coin to purchase a high-end Core 2 Extreme system can have it shipped today, Intel said.
Four of the new desktop CPUs, ranging in core frequencies from 1.86GHz to 2.66GHz, carry the Core 2 Duo name. The fastest one, which operates at 2.93GHz, is dubbed Core 2 Extreme X6800. That processor and two others, the 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo E6700 and the 2.40GHz Core 2 Duo E6600, have 4MB level-two (L2) cache. Two remaining desktop processors, the 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo E6400 and the 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo E6300, are only equipped with 2MB of the L2 cache. All models support a 1066MHz front-side bus (FSB). Announced prices vary between US$183 and US$999.
The five new Core 2 Duo mobile processors were announced Thursday: the 2.33-GHz T7600, the 2.16-GHz T7400, the 2.00-GHz T7200, the 1.83-GHz T5600, and the 1.66-GHz T5500. The T7XXX series contain 4 Mbytes of unified cache, while the T5xxx series contain just two. All of the Merom processors operate at between 1.0375 to 1.3 volts, and all of them use a 667-MHz bus speed. Prices of the new mobile CPUs were not disclosed.
Intel unveils Conroe and Merom, with pricing only available for Conroe
