Intel is preparing to ship its first Core 2 Quad processors in a little over a month's time.

In an opening keynote at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, chief executive Paul Otellini said that 13 PC makers are standing by to launch systems powered by the forthcoming quad-core Core 2 Extreme processor in November.

The models will be designed for gamers and graphics-intensive media creators.

To showcase the potential of the quad-core chips in gaming systems, Markus Maki of game company Remedy used an over-clocked quad-core Core 2 Extreme to demonstrate its upcoming title Alan Wake.

Maki claimed that the game requires one processing core for the physics simulation alone.

According to Intel, the quad-core chips are 70 per cent faster than the current dual-core models.

In addition to the high-end quad-core Core 2 Extreme chip, the first quarter of 2007 will also see the release of a mainstream processor, the Core 2 Quad.

Otellini cited the rise in streaming media and high-definition video as the main reasons behind the decision to market a mainstream quad-core chip.

"The things that people want to do require more processing power than ever before," Otellini told delegates.

"PC games are approaching movie quality, and Google desktop search is becoming a de-facto [standard] for the way we find data on our hard drives.

"Everyday tasks have evolved to include photo editing and for some people video editing. New operating systems like Mac OS X and Windows Vista are all primed with the need for more and more computing power."

The chipmaker revealed that it will start shipping its first dual processor Quad-Core Xeon 5300 by the end of this year. Intel plans to release a low power 50W model for use in blade servers early in 2007.

The development of the new processors puts Intel back in the lead over AMD, according to Insight 64 senior analyst Nathan Brookwood. 

He predicted that the previously one-sided technology battle between the two companies could turn into a game of leap-frog as each rolls out new products.

"AMD now has to show that it has a competitive product when it gets there in 2007," Brookwood told vnunet.com. 

• A video demonstration of Intel's quad-core Core 2 Extreme chip powering Alan Wake is available on the Silicon Valley Sleuth blog.