Intel announced having already begun shipping its first dual-core version of the Atom microprocessor. Dual-core Atom, also known as Atom 330, will probably put an end to the single-core version of the chip. As the company announced, the pricing information and data sheets for customers would be available starting Monday.

The chip manufacturer giant announced at IDF in August that the new processor would be launched in September. The dual-core Atom has been designed for Net desktops, also called nettops. The company has on the market the Atom N230 chip aiming at the same category of small machines. The Atom CPU can also be found on a wide range of mobile PCs.

The mobile Atom processor, which can be found on machines such as Eee PC, Acer Aspire or MSI Wind, has a TDP rating of around 2 watts, which makes it the most power efficient device in the area. The single-core N230 Atom has a 4 watts thermal envelope, while the new Atom 330 processor is rated at 8 watts.

The specifications of Intel's chip include a core clock speed of 1.6GHz, 1MB of L2 cache, as well as support for DDR2 667MHz memory. According to the company, the processor is available in a package with the Intel 945GC Express chipset (which also has integrated graphics), or as part of the Little Falls2 motherboard.

“This is not for Netbooks,” said an Intel spokesperson. Yet, this will not stop computer makers from doing what they please with the chip. Some will probably try to use the processor on a netbook or a notebook machine as well. This may happen courtesy of the 8W thermal envelope, which is far lower than the standard TDP of mainstream Intel-based mobile machines.

The price of the new dual-core Atom 330 is also as tempting. It comes as the cheapest Intel dual-core processor, with only $40 in 1,000 unit quantities.

Some vendors already announced the availability of pre-orders for Atom 330-based machines. They include PC supplier Tranquil PC (UK) and Abaco Computers (Italy). News about dual-core Atom based motherboards also emerged on the Web.