Intel unveils new quadcore chip

San Francisco: Intel Corp began selling its new Core i7 processor this week, finally matching the lower power consumption and ability to handle multiple tasks offered by smaller competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Intel is already one year ahead of AMD in offering chips with 45-nanometre features that improve efficiency and power consumption, but in some ways the Core i7 is playing catch-up to AMD.

The new Intel chip, formerly code-named "Nehalem", has four processing cores on a single piece of silicon and automatically cuts down power usage when the chip is doing less - both features that AMD has boasted.

Each of the Intel chip's four cores can handle two different "threads", or processes, at once.

The new features translate into improved speed for such calculation-intense operations as video editing and games, without using more power, Intel said.

Analysts say these features are available with AMD's new Shanghai chip, but note that it serves only the thinnest slice of the market at the high end.