Intel Merom chips get numbers, specs

SOURCES IN ASIA have disclosed the numbers and the specs of Intel's next generation "Merom" processor, slated like Intel's "Cointreau" and "Woodcrest" for the third quarter of this year.

Intel will number the chips the T7600, the T7400, the T7200 and the T5600. This last one will be a SKU (stock control unit) with a single rather than a dual core.

The chips clock at 2.33GHz, 2.16GHz, 2GHz, and 1.83GHz respectively - all will use a 667MHz front side bus. All, apart from the last, will have 4MB of cache on board and use the FCPGA6 socket.

As the year progresses, Intel will introduce discounts on some of its existing Pentium M processors, as it eases them out in favour of the Dual Core Duos it announced earlier this year.

At the end of May, and as the herald of the coming Merom, we will see the prices of Intel's Core Duo processors falling. µ