Quad core mainstream to arrive by '09

RESEARCH FIRM iSuppli said that more than half of all desktop PCs shipped in 2009 will be quad core.

Currently, the firm said, quad core is only available in systems costing $1000 and upwards, a price range which only accounts for a small fraction of the market. However, by 09, the firm says to expect quad cores to be in PCs lower than $500.

Of course, what the firm doesn't mention is that separate predictions suggest that desktop PCs themselves are fast becoming a dying breed, and that the trends are such that laptops could comprise as much as 60% of the computer market by 2009, making quad core desktops, once again, a relatively minor proportion.

Isuppli predicts that notebook quad core chips won't be hitting the mainstream in any quantity until 2010, though we may start to see them tip up in early 2009 in slightly higher price points.

We suspect that it is likely that these chips will be 45nm, or perhaps produced on an even smaller process, given the heat and power requirements of desktop quad core parts. But there's no question that the march of the core continues on.