QUAD-CORE CPU FOR LAPTOPS

Intel is scheduling to launch its first quad-core CPU for laptops, the Core 2 Extreme QX9300, in the 3rd quarter this year with pricing set at a novel high of US$1,038 in thousand-unit tray quantities, as per sources at motherboard makers.

With the market insisting for top-level laptops still beneath the average, Intel expects the quad-core notebook CPUs will not turn out to be standard in the performance/majority notebook market until the 2nd half of 2009, and therefore it should not crash the desktop PC market, noted the sources.

The Core 2 Extreme QX9300 will be manufactured at 45nm and include a core frequency of 2.53GHz. The CPU will come in a socket P package and shore up FSB speeds up to 1066MHz. The chip will comprise 12MB L2 cache and have a maximum TDP of 45W.