Intel has started shipping its dual-core Pentium processors, and PC makers including Dell and Alienware have begun selling computers equipped with the newly developed Pentium Extreme Edition 840.

The 840 runs at 3.2GHz and is priced at about $1,000. Intel targets the processor at high-end systems for gamers, and cheaper models for mainstream applications are expected in the following months.

A dual-core processor effectively bundles two processors onto a single chip, allowing allows for better performance with only a limited increase in power consumption.

Server chip makers like Sun Microsystems and IBM have been shipping dual-core processors for years, but the technology only now reaches chips for desktop systems and low-end servers.

The launch of the Intel chips coincided with the 40th anniversary of Moore's Law. But more importantly, the chipmaker has beaten AMD in bringing the first dual-core desktop processor to market.

Intel has been dealt several blows by its smaller rival when AMD launched the first x64 processor with 64-bit memory extensions and demonstrated the first dual-core processor.

AMD is expected to launch its dual-core offering on 21 April at an event in New York.