Intel will start shipping its latest dual-core Xeon processor, codenamed Paxville, later today. The processor has dual 2MB L2 cache and dual threading on both cores.

The chip giant said that this architecture can provide a 50 per cent performance boost, but only when running software optimised for the chip.

The release is part of a major push by Intel to accelerate its development of dual-core and multi-core processors in an effort to catch up with AMD's lead in the technology.

"We have 15 dual-core projects under development for 2006 in the client, mobile and server worlds," Rick Skett, group marketing director at Intel's Digital Enterprise Group EMEA, told vnunet.com.

"Then you'll see three more servers in next three months, dual-core Itanium and Xeon and multi-core processors for servers."

Skett added that Intel had brought forward the release of Paxville, originally intended for early next year, in response to customer demand.

The newly developed processor has been designed with upgrades in mind and could be dropped into current single-core platforms with just a small firmware upgrade, according to Skett.

The announcement was released early after Dell put up a web page advertising systems using the processors. Dell recently announced that it was dropping Intel's higher end Itanium processors in favour of the Xeon.