Intel Core 2 Duo

"Conroe" and "Merom" get a name and a birthday

Intel has just passed us word about a new branding decision for the upcoming second generation Core processors. Intel's first generation desktop Core processor, Conroe, will carry the moniker Core 2 Duo, suplementing the 65nm Netburst Presler micro-architecture. Notebook processors, earlier dubbed Merom, will also carry the Core 2 Duo moniker even though the processors are very different than the desktop Core 2 Duo chips. The highest end desktop processors, previously named Extreme Edition, will be labeled as Core 2 Extreme opposed to the mainstream Core 2 Duo.

Core 2 Extreme will actually become the first Conroe processor to launch, followed immediately by Core 2 Duo E6700 -- as outlined by Intel's most recent desktop roadmap. Merom and Conroe are both based on 65nm process designs with shared L2 cache and aggressive power management. Conroe and Merom will both be backwards compatible with recently manufactured desktop and mobile motherboards.

Intel's most recent forward outlook confirms Conroe will ship in July, 2006 followed shortly by Merom in August 2006. This was hinted by Intel CEO Paul Otellini earlier this week during the company's quarterly report. Intel's press release about the new branding claims:

Consumers and businesses will also be able to purchase these processors as part of Intel’s market-focused platforms -- a collection of Intel hardware and software technology innovation that is designed and tested together and tailored to specific computing needs. Intel offers wireless computing, in-home entertainment or business productivity platforms through the company’s Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology, Intel Viiv technology and Intel vPro.

Intel is expected to publicly demonstrate Core 2 Duo at Computex 2006 in Taipei, Taiwan on June 6th, 2006. AMD is expected to launch its next generation DDR2 desktop component