Double servings of speed

Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., this month demonstrated dual-core processors that the company expects to begin releasing to the market next year. And at press time, reports were that Intel Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif., planned to discuss its dual-core chips at the Intel Developer Forum, Sept. 7-9. It is not known which product will ship to vendors first.

Dual-core processors are two chips in one and can increase the performance of servers, desktops and laptops while conserving energy. The microsprocessor industry has been struggling with ways to boost performance without hiking clock speeds, and dual-core chips appear to be the commonest solution. IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. each have released dual-core processors for servers.