TAIPEI — Intel formally launched its “3-series” chipsets on Tuesday here at Computex, adding a few surprises along the way: the addition of two new chipsets, formally scheduled for the third quarter, and a Core 2 Extreme processor thats slated for notebooks.
Intels “Bearlake” chipsets, now known as the “3” series, comes in two flavors: the G33 and P35 series that have been shipping since April, as well as the Q33 and Q35, two chipsets that were formally due in the third quarter. Intel also announced the G35 and X38 enthusiast chipsets, which are supposed to ship within ninety days. Both of the latter chipsets, however, have made appearances here at the Computex show.
According to Sean Maloney, executive vice president of Intel and chief sales and marketing officer, the chipsets are expected to be the fastest-growing in Intels history, with over 100 motherboard designs planned.
Maloney also said that several microprocessors are being given an airing at the trade show here: “Harpertown,” a quad-core Xeon manufactured on the 45-nm process; “Wolfdale,” a dual-core 45-nm Xeon chip, as well as the upcoming desktop processor, the 45-nm dual-core “Penryn” chip. Maloney also highlighted “Clovertown,” a true quad-core chip for servers, as one which would eventually reach the desktop. The Core 2 Extreme processor for notebooks, meanwhile, will be the worlds fastest “by a large margin,” Maloney said during a keynote address here, although the chip will still contain some power-saving features. It will be used in three notebooks: two from Asus, one with a 15-inch LCD screen and the other with a 17-inch; and the “Dragon” notebook from HP.
