Two, Four, Six ... Eight?

Most consumers are happy with duo-core processors. Bump up a computer to dual-quad and they're even more thrilled with the performance. But the news that Intel will soon launch six-core processors has people like me higher than a kite. The "Westmere," which sounds like a luxury real estate development, is expected to be out by the end of the month. Advanced Micro Devices is trailing slightly behind with its Phenom II X6. The Westmere is not the first six-core chip from Intel, but the Core i7-980X is targeted for dual-socket platforms and more advanced than the six-core Extreme Edition chips, which is based on 32-nanometer process technology. Hyper-threading will, for all practical purposes, double the number of threads executed per core. Pricing? Just over a thou and you need 12MB of memory on your computer. Some industry experts think it's overkill for most people. But then, didn't Bill Gates once say that no one will ever need more than 640MB of hard drive? Westmere, Eastmere. Phenom. Extreme. Whatever the name, they'll set new standards.