Intel is likely to give up its current practice of launching processors for desktops and notebooks respectively. Instead the chipmaker is expected to launch a brand new processor, dubbed Merom, for all PCs starting 2007, according to sources at Taiwanese motherboard makers. The Merom will be made using a 0.65nm process and will run under the current architecture used by Intel"s Pentium M processors, said the sources. The Merom will be offered with different amounts of cache for varying markets.
Intel"s Netburst architecture that supports the Pentium 4 processors is likely to be phased out from the PC market when the Merom comes online, according to the sources. Under Netburst, Intel"s Prescott processors have been constantly haunted by problems such as heat dissipation and high power consumption.