It took more than 20 years for desktop processors to go from single-core to dual-core. Now, Intel is preparing to release its first desktop quad-core processor after introducing its first dual-core desktop CPU in April 2005. Intel executives this week announced that it will begin shipping the first quad-core Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processors this November. Intel did not announce pricing details, but new Extreme Edition processors have traditionally shipped at the $999 price point.

　　The Core 2 Extreme, codenamed "Kentsfield," will incorporate two dual-core chips on a single package for a total of four processing cores and 8MB of L2 cache memory. The Core 2 Extreme QX6700's 2.66GHz clock speed makes it slightly slower than the current Conroe-based 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme Processor. That means that the faster dual-core processor will likely outperform its quad-core sibling in applications that haven't been optimized for multiple processor cores, but the quad-core should perform better in newer multithreaded applications designed for multicore processors.

　　Remedy Entertainment's upcoming action thriller game, Alan Wake, can take advantage of quad-core processors by devoting separate program threads such as physics, game action, environment, and sound processing to each core.

　　Comparison systems provided by Intel showed the Core 2 Extreme quad-core chip scoring 8910 compared to the dual-core Core 2 Extreme's 8286 in the popular 3D gaming benchmark 3DMark06. However, the default 3DMark06 test is primarily a video card benchmark, and the close scores better represent the performance of the systems' matching GeForce 7950 GX2 video cards. The quad-core processor had a much wider lead over the dual-core version in 3DMark's specialized CPU test, where the quad-core scored 3903 to the dual-core's 2497.

　　Rival processor manufacturer AMD is preparing to release its own "4x4" quad-core platform later this year, but AMD's hardware will use dual-socket motherboards and dual-core CPUs to get up to four cores. AMD will follow up with single-chip quad-core CPUs in 2007.

　　The quad-core Core 2 Extreme processor will be compatible with most existing 965 and 975 LGA775 motherboards but may require a BIOS update. The Core 2 Extreme QX6700 will be the only Intel quad-core CPU available this November. Mainstream Core 2 Quad processors are scheduled to arrive in the first quarter of 2007.