Intel Corp. reportedly plans to start production of dual-core Atom processors aimed at low-cost desktops as early as in Q3 this year. The new Atom chips for desktops may be considered as a major threat for low-end microprocessors by companies like Advanced Micro Devices and Via Technologies, who sell numerous chips at bargain prices on emerging markets.

The lineup of desktop Intel Atom central processing units (CPUs) will consist of Atom Z200-series with one processing engines and Z300-series with two processing engines. Both families will feature multi-threading technology which allows to execute two threads of code on one core, which means that dual-core Intel Atom processor will be able to execute four threads at once.

The first dual-core Intel Atom Z330 microprocessor will be a multi-chip module featuring two single-core dies operating at 1.60GHz and featuring 512KB of level-two cache each. Thermal design power of the dual-core chip will be 8W, reports Fudzilla web-site. Intel plans to begin production of Atom Z230 and Atom Z330 in Q3 2008, a news-story at DigiTimes web-site claims.

While there indisputably be internal competition between Intel Atom Z200 and Z300 families, both pose a great danger for low-end microprocessors by competing AMD and Via Technologies. The single-core Intel Atom chips are likely to offer higher-performance compared to Via C7-series chips, whereas dual-core Intel Atom processors seem to be more appealing compared to low-end AMD Sempron or Via Isaiah products that only sport one processing engine.

Intel did not comment on the news-story.