We are very well familiar with the major advantages of the Core 2 processors that Intel has been shipping since last summer. No one will argue that these processors have pushed contemporary systems performance to a whole new level being quite economical at the same time. Moreover, Core 2 processors have also won the hearts of computer enthusiasts thanks to their excellent overclocking-friendly features. However, these processors have not only improved the consumer qualities of contemporary high-performance systems. The arrival of Core 2 Duo also brought a new wave of cut-throat price wars between eternal rivals, AMD and Intel, in the mainstream market segment. Trying to keep their older processors families, such as Athlon 64 X2 and Pentium D, on a competitive level, both CPU makers have dropped their prices significantly. Today you can buy CPUs with two computational cores for as low as $100, which is about half the price you had to pay a year ago.

Luckily, the prices on dual-core processors will continue falling. Intel is preparing some new steps that will make dual-core CPUs even more affordable. Of course, AMD will not keep us waiting either and will respond with adequate measures. As a result, we will very soon see a lot of interesting offers in the sub-$200 price range.

We all know very well what Intel is going to do next to cause new changes in the processor market. Firstly, they will reduce the prices on the existing dual-core processors in April and even offer a few new Core 2 Duo models with enhanced features and improved specifications. Secondly, in early Q3 we expect them to launch Core 2 Duo E6x50 with 1333MHz bus, which are also supposed to be priced very attractively.

However, Core 2 Duo processors supporting 1333MHz FSB still seem pretty ephemeral, as there is quite a bit of time left before they actually come out. Moreover, Intel will also have to introduce new x35 core logic series for these new CPUs to get adopted by the market successfully. At this time it seems much more acute to figure out the upcoming April changes in the Core 2 Duo processor line-up. This will be the topic of our today's discussion. In this article we are going to introduce to you the upcoming new solutions, compare their performance with the already existing processors and offer a detailed comparison of all dual-core processors that will soon be available in the sub-$200 price range.

So, in April 2007 Intel will please us with three interesting newcomers. Two of them, Core 2 Duo E6420 and E6320, will be more advanced analogues of the existing Core 2 Duo E6400 and E6300: they will feature larger L2 cache ?increased to 4MB. The third new processor, Core 2 Duo E4400, is none other but Core 2 Duo E4300 overclocked to 2.0GHz and featuring 800MHz bus and L2 cache cut down to 2MB. Note that the main attraction of these new solutions will be not their features but mostly their appealing price.

Once these three CPUs are launched, the prices on the already existing Core 2 Duo processors will evidently drop. As a result, Intel's Core 2 Duo price list will then look as follows:

CPU	Clock frequency	Bus frequency	L2 cache	Price
Core 2 Duo E6700	2.66 GHz	1066 MHz	4 MB	$316
Core 2 Duo E6600	2.4 GHz	1066 MHz	4 MB	$224
Core 2 Duo E6420	2.13 GHz	1066 MHz	4 MB	$183
Core 2 Duo E6400	2.13 GHz	1066 MHz	2 MB	$183
Core 2 Duo E6320	1.86 GHz	1066 MHz	4 MB	$163
Core 2 Duo E6300	1.86 GHz	1066 MHz	2 MB	$163
Core 2 Duo E4400	2.0 GHz	800 MHz	2 MB	$133
Core 2 Duo E4300	1.8 GHz	800 MHz	2 MB	$113
Pentium D 935	3.2 GHz	800 MHz	2 x 2 MB	$84
Pentium D 925	3.0 GHz	800 MHz	2 x 2 MB	$74

As we see, all three upcoming CPUs are quite interesting. Core 2 Duo E6x20 processors offer larger cache memory at the same price point as the well-known Core 2 Duo E6400 and E6300. Core 2 Duo E4400, in its turn, can boast higher clock speed than Core 2 Duo E63x0 but at a lower price.

Now let's take a closer look at the new processors.