Dual-core processors the star this year at Computex exhibition

Computer applications powered by Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc's (AMD) dual-core microprocessors are apparently taking center stage at Computex this year, as major computer makers are showcasing their latest models of servers and desktop PCs that are equipped with such chips to enhance performance capability.

A number of Taiwanese manufacturers such as Acer Inc, server maker Tatung Co (大同) as well as motherboard producers Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Micro-Star International Co (微星科技) are presenting products using so-called dual-core processors at the show.

Jeff Lee (李政達), who is in charge of product management of Acer's desktop product line, said the company, the world's fifth-biggest PC vendor, will present its desktop PCs with dual-core chips designed for commercial use this month and offer its multimedia-emphasized models for consumer market next month.

Tatung's high performance Blade server, powered by dual-core chips, meanwhile, is designed for biochemical work, DNA analysis, geological prospecting and game server areas, said David Wang (王直平), product marketing director of Tatung's server and commercial system business unit.

The Blade server can both support Intel's dual-core Xeon and AMD's Opteron to boost efficiency, he said.

AMD, which introduced dual-core chips for servers and workstations on April 21, launched its Athlon 64 X2 dual-core chips for PCs yesterday, the company said in a statement.

Intel launched its dual-core chips on April 18 and unveiled last week a new set of chips with a dual-core Pentium to improve graphics and sound quality.

Intel expects to ship ``millions'' of its dual-core processors this year, Bloomberg News quoted Stanley Huang (黃逸松), director of marketing and technical services at Intel Asia Pacific, as saying yesterday.

``I can't give you an exact figure but it will be in the millions,'' he was quoted as saying.

However, although the "dual-core" technology sounds fancy and advanced, Lee is conservative about the sales it may create.

"Unless you are a heavy user in need of complex operations, using dual-core chips would not give you a distinct feeling of differences because you cannot see them," he said.

"It is more of a selling feature for Intel and AMD to demonstrate their R&D capabilities," he said.

Computex opened yesterday and runs through Saturday. There are plenty of high-tech gadgets to catch buyers' eyes.

BenQ Corp (明基電通) unveiled a comprehensive line-up of products including 3G mobile phones, large digital-light-processing (DLP) rear projection TVs and wide-screen laptop computers.

The firm also presented the world's smallest portable combo drives, PW100 and PW200, which allow users to burn digital content of voice, photos, video and multimedia data onto a CD or DVD. With a weight of around 800g, the two models are expected to hit the market in September and next February.