AMD has raised the stakes with Intel as the pair prepare to do battle over dual-core processors following last week's demonstration of a dual-core x86 Opteron.

AMD showed off an HP ProLiant DL585 server powered by four dual-core AMD Opteron processors manufactured using 90nm silicon-on-insulator process technology.

The company plans to introduce a full dual-core processor line-up for the one- to eight-socket server and workstation market in mid-2005 based on the existing 940-pin socket.

Dual-core chips for the client market are expected to follow in the second half of 2005.

These processors allay a key concern for IT buyers by offering platform stability through increasing processing power without the need for an expensive platform upgrade.

Analyst Gartner predicts that, following AMD's move, Intel may speed up the release of its own dual-core range, which is expected to be demonstrated as a new dual-core Xeon at Intel's Developer Forum event in San Francisco this week.

Indeed, the analyst appears to expect a kind of dual-core arms race.

"When Intel does introduce its own dual-core line-up, AMD might well speed up its conservative 2005 release date," said Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds in an advisory.

"The release of dual-core designs from these leading manufacturers will change the competitive landscape of the processor market. By mid-2006, most of the processors being shipped will be dual-core designs."

Gartner suggested that enterprises should prepare for the availability of dual-core processors in 2005, but to negotiate software licences that count a single-chip device as one processor no matter how many cores it carries.