Tom Krazit
CNET News.com
May 08, 2006, 08:50 BST
Core 2 Duo name will be used for desktop chips
based on the Conroe chip, as well as for notebook chips based on
the Merom chip
Coming soon to a PC store near you: Core Duo, the sequel.
Intel has decided to borrow the sequential naming scheme it
used for its famous Pentium brand and apply it to the new Core line
of chips, the company announced on Sunday. Earlier this
year, Intel released the Core Duo processor, and in a few months it
will unveil Core 2 Duo processors. The Core 2 Duo
name will be used for desktop chips based on the Conroe chip, as
well as for notebook chips based on the Merom chip. Merom
processors consume less power than Conroe chips, but they're
otherwise very similar.
Each Core 2 Duo chip will also have a model number that will
indicate how much power it consumes and its relative performance,
said Intel spokesman Bill Kircos. The Conroe processors will fall
into either the 4000 series or 6000 series, while Merom processors
will use either the 5000 series or 7000 series numbers, he
said.
Conveniently, the Conroe numbers match up well with the model
numbers used by Advanced Micro Devices on its current generation of
dual-core Athlon 64 X2 desktop processors. AMD's highest-rated
Athlon 64 X2 processor as of Friday is the X2 4800+. Kircos
declined to comment on whether Intel chose the new scheme to line
up with AMD's model numbers.
Each one of Intel's model numbers will be preceded by a letter that
indicates how much power the chip consumes at its peak. This is the
first time Intel has incorporated power consumption into its model
numbers. For example, the Core 2 Duo E6800 processor would
represent a dual-core Core-architecture processor that consumes
between 55 watts and 75 watts of power, which Intel considers the
standard desktop PC category. The hypothetical Core 2 Duo T5400
would represent a dual-core Core chip that consumes between 25
watts and 55 watts of power, a range Intel thinks is appropriate
for most notebooks and some desktops.
Over the last year Intel has put increasing emphasis on its
platform brands, such as Centrino for notebooks, Viiv for
entertainment PCs and vPro for business PCs. But the company will
continue to emphasise the individual processor brands, Kircos said.
"I think you'll see equal amounts of marketing around the processor
and platform brands," he said.
The end appears nigh for the Pentium brand, which has
carried Intel for 13 years. Intel is expected to rapidly shift its
factories to cranking out Core processors by the end of the
year.
Last week, Intel announced plans to bring out the Conroe and Merom
chips in July and August, respectively, which is earlier than had
been expected.