Intel Core 2 Quad Q8000 Entry-Level CPU Rumored

According to the latest rumors coming out of motherboard manufacturers, Intel is looking to ratchet up the pressure on rival AMD with the introduction of an entry-level Core 2 Quad Q8000 CPU series.  The chips will go head to head with AMD's triple-core processors, which have proved popular for budget PCs.  Intel's first chip of the serieswilll be the Q8200, and feature an FSB of up to 1333MHz, L2 cache of 4MB and a core frequency of 2.33GHz.

To differentiate the entry-level range from existing Q9000 series processors, Intel will not include VT or TXT technology.  VT is the company's virtualization system, allowing multiple virtual systems to run on a single processor, while TXT stands for "Trusted Execution Technology" and is Intel's hardware-based security extension.

If the rumors are true, the new Core 2 Quad Q8000 chips will be available in Q3 2008.  Price is estimated at around US$203 in thousand-unit quantities.