Intel Stops Making Four of Its Core 2 Duo CPUs

As technology progresses and processors get smaller and faster, makers of hardware eventually stop manufacturing older models, and Intel has apparently decided to cease making four of its Core 2 CPUs next year.

Since the Sandy Bridge chips are shaping up nicely, and the Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 series have proven quite popular, Intel is, naturally, planning on abandoning older projects.

This translates into the Santa Clara, California-based company's decision to stop manufacturing certain older processors, the goal being to utilize those resources for the projects expected to yield the largest marketing benefit.

Intel has, of course, done this in the past on multiple occasions, and it seems that another such move will be made in 2011.

The CPUs that will reportedly see the end of their lives next year are part of the Core 2 mobile line and will continue to be available for order only until the end of the first quarter.

The exact models are the 2.0 GHz Core 2 Quad Q9000, the 2.26 GHz Q9100, the 2.53 GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300 and, finally, the 3.06 GHz X9100.

As one can see, the CPUs aren't necessarily weak, but they are becoming outdated as they are built on the 45nm manufacturing process technology.

Ceasing their manufacture will allow Intel to pay more attention to its series of chips based on the 32nm process.

Products created on the 32nm node, in addition to enabling better performance, have the benefit of a lower power consumption, among other things.

As it stands, the aforementioned Core 2 models will only be available for orders until March 25, 2011. Boxed versions will keep being delivered until the top-ranking maker of central processors exhausts its remaining inventories.

As for the tray versions of the aforementioned Q9000, Q9100, X9100 and QX9300 chips, their final shipment date is September 30.