Intel Corp (INTC)

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'Intel postpones launch of new desktop CPUs to July 27'

Monica Chen, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 29 June 2006]

http://digitimes.com/print/a20060629A2007.html

The launch of the Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800, Core 2 Duo E6300, E6400, E6600 and E6700 processors, which were originally expected to arrive on July 23, will be postponed to July 27, according to a recent review of Intel's product roadmap by sources at Taiwan motherboard makers. In addition, the entry-level Celeron D 360 CPU, which will be the last part offered under the Pentium 4 NetBurst microarchitecture, will be introduced on September 1, indicated the sources.

Meanwhile, graphics core chipsets to support those processors - the G965 and entry-level Q963 - will also be introduced on July 27, the sources noted. In addition, the high-end Q965, which supports the Intel vPro business PC platform, will be released on September 7, the sources added.

Launch of Intel's Core 2 Duo E4200, which features a core speed of 1.6GHz, 2MB of cache memory and support for an 800MHz FSB, and is compliant with the 946GZ/PL chipset family, is expected in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the sources. The new CPU is intended to compete with AMD's Socket-AM2 Athlon 64 X2 3600+, rated for a clock speed of 2GHz and fitted with 512KB of L2 cache, which reportedly is scheduled for launch during the fourth quarter.

In September, Intel will launch the Celeron D 360 processor, which features the Cedar Mill core and delivers a 3.46GHz clock speed. This will be the chip giant's last desktop processor under the NetBurst microarchitecture, at a unit price of US$103, the sources indicated. Until the second quarter of 2007, the new Intel Core microarchitecture will be incorporated in all of its entry-level desktop processors, including the single-core Conroe-L, the sources said. By the end of next year, all the Celeron D and Pentium 4 CPU lines currently under the NetBurst microarchitecture, will be phased out, according to the sources.