Intel launches Core i3 and Core i5

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 18 Jun 2009 at 12:43

Intel has admitted it has a "mind boggling array" of confusing chip names, and has vowed to make its line-up simpler to understand for customers.

The Core 2, Solo, Duo and Quad names will all be retired as and when current chips go end-of-life, with a new naming scheme being phased in as new products emerge.

"The fact of the matter is, we have a complex structure with too many platform brands, product names, and product brands, and we've made things confusing for consumers and IT buyers in the process," says Intel's corporate communications manager Bill Calder in a blog post.

"Today the Intel Core brand has a mind boggling array of derivatives (such as Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad, etc). Over time those will go away and in its place will be a simplified family of Core processors spanning multiple levels: Intel Core i3 processor, Intel Core i5 processor, and Intel Core i7 processors," he adds.

Intuitively, entry-level chips will become Core i3, mid-level will be Core i5 and high-end processors will carry the Core i7 branding.

The upcoming desktop chip, codenamed Lynnfield, will be labelled as an Intel Core chip, coming in i5 and i7 flavours, depending on the feature set. Clarksfield, the next mobile chip, will also be a Core chip, designated as an i7.

However, things will not be that simple. Celeron will also survive, remaining an entry-level brand, while Pentium also stays as a "basic computing" processor.

The smartphone and netbook chip, Atom, also survives the alleged simplification of chip names.

The Centrino brand also remains, but will no longer have anything to do with processors, instead being relocated to Wi-Fi and WiMAX products.

Because of the gradual change, both the old and new systems will also operate in tandem for the next couple of years.