CHIP FIRM Intel said it released 16 server and workstation chips which use its hafnium high-k metal gate and using a 45 nanometre process.

The quad core 45 nano quad hi-k "Extreme" Core 2 delivers "adrenaline" for " hardcore gamers" and media enthusiasts, said Chipzilla.

You are probably wondering what this means. What it means for sure is that Intel's confidence about being able to produce chips at 45 nanometres is correct. It also means that Intel is one and half process generations ahead of AMD. And it means that server chips are probably going to get cheaper, which can't be good news for AMD's bottom line.

The chips come with much larger level two caches and also support Intel SSE4.

Clock speeds go from 2GHz to 3.2GHz, while system buses on some of the chips go up to 1.6GHz, with cache sizes of 12MB.

The old codenames are now defunct. Rather than the weirdly named "Stoakley", the Xeon chipset is called the i5400. Rather than the fruitily named " Cranberry-L", the memory controller hub chipset and ICH 9R IO controller is called the i5100 memory controller hub chipset.

The 45 nano chips range in prices depending on speeds and features and the number you want and ranging from $177 to $1,279 if you buy them in thousands.

Intel says this is a penny.
So that would be a US penny, then

The Core 2 Extreme QX9650 quad core chipolata costs $999 if you buy 1,000 of them, although we suspect you'd get the same price if you bought 999 of them.

Intel is claiming all sorts of speed boosts and performance enhancements with the 45 nano Hafnium based chips. If you're buying servers, look out for bargains. We are unsure at press time how AMD will react, because AMD doesn't seem to want to talk to the INQ any more. Shrug. µ