Intel is reportedly preparing to push dual-core capability into the value market with the introduction of new dual-core Celerons during the first quarter of 2008, as the chip giant begins phasing out single-core products.
The first dual-core Celeron processor, the E1200, will have a core frequency of 1.60GHz, 800MHz FSB and 512KB of unified L2 cache at a price of $53 in thousand-unit quantities. Later during the year Intel plans to add more chips into the Intel Celeron E1000 dual-core lineup, which are set to be made using 65nm process technology and are projected to fit into 65W thermal design power envelope.
Intel will also launch two E4000 series processors based on its 45nm process in the first few months of 2008. The E4700 will have a clockspeed of 2.6GHz, 800MHz FSB and 2MB L2 cache. Details of the second E4000-series chip are not yet available, but according to DigiTimes' sources, it will support a 1066MHz FSB and have 3MB L2 cache.
Whether or not this announcement will put enough pressure on AMD to transition the Sempron line to dual-core remains to be seen, as the company is already struggling to compete Intel in the high-end, and server markets.