Intel had already announced plans to introduce its quad-core chips in Q4, 2006 and now we have the first firm dates as Hewlett-Packard will be the first vendor to offer the chip on November 13.
The Hewlett-Packard workstations will be the first computers to run on Intel's quad-core processors, now known as Xeon 5300. This early introduction of the quad core chip is even more impressive when considering that rival AMD will not feature a quad-core processor until Q2, 2007. AMD claims that its native quad-core design is superior to Intel's technique of connecting two dual-cores in one chip. Those claims however, cannot be verified until both processors can be compared in real-world conditions.
Intel's quad-core processors will not be available for mainstream desktops until Q1 2007 when the Core 2 Quad chip is launched. Gamers will also get their own quad-core version in the shape of the Core 2 Extreme, a processor expected to ship soon.