Intel Corp. on Monday said its latest Celeron D processors feature 64-bit capability, which enables value computers with technologies originally found in workstation and server processors. Intel’s Extended Memory 64 Technology may eventually boost performance of computers running appropriate chips provided that the software is able to take advantage of it.

A family of Intel’s value processors with 64-bit and Execute Disable Bit support includes Intel Celeron D processors 351, 346, 341, 336, 331 and 326 that work at 3.20GHz, 3.06GHz, 2.93GHz, 2.80GHz, 2.66GHz and 2.53GHz. Just like their brethren without EM64T, the new Intel Celeron D are equipped with 256KB L2 cache. The new microprocessors require a mainboard that sports 533MHz processor system bus, is equipped with Socket 775 and has a special BIOS that features EM64T.

The new Celeron D processors with 64-bit capability also support Execute Disable Bit (EDB) capability that protects certain memory areas from malicious software provided that Windows XP SP2 operating system is used, as some older Celeron D chips.

Currently processors with x86-64 technologies – be it AMD64 or EM64T – do not provide tangible performance advantage over 32-bit central processing units, as not a lot of software is optimized for x86-64 hips. Nevertheless, with both AMD and Intel now supplying rich lineups of products for all market segments and with a desktop operating system from Microsoft with x86-64 support now available, software makers are likely to jump on the bandwagon and in about a year timeframe 64-bit chips may receive significant performance boost.

In fact, Intel’s 64-bit Intel Celeron processors have been shipping in volume for some time now.

“The chips are ‘shipping in volume’ and Intel has ‘products in the marketplace’,” the company’s joint marketing chief, Anand Chandrasekher, was reported to have said at Computex 2005.

Intel Celeron D processors with 64-bit support are produced using 90nm process technology and are compatible with mainboards featuring Intel’s 915-, 925-, 945- and 955-series chipsets.

The new Intel Celeron D processors are priced in the range from $73 to $127 for 1000-unit quantities.