Quote:AMD on Monday announced it will sell before April a three-core version of its quad-core Phenom desktop processor.

Otherwise identical in every respect to the quad-core version, with 512KB of level 2 cache per core and 3MB of shared level 3 cache, the new processor is yet to be named. AMD is also yet to reveal pricing or power and performance details.

"It will fit between dual- and quad-cores, but not exactly in the middle," said Giuseppe Amato, AMD's European technical director for sales and marketing.

AMD said shipments of quad-core processors only represented 2 percent of all desktop computer shipments for the three months ended June 30, suggesting there's a place for triple-core.

"We believe that triple core is the right product at the right time to serve a broad swatch of market," said Bob Brewer, AMD's corporate vice president and general manager of the desktop division.

The new processor was primarily intended for consumer desktops and that it would work in all existing quad-core-compatible motherboards without modification, Amato said, adding it will be available in the first quarter of 2008.

Since 2003, AMD has been locked in a race with much-bigger rival Intel Corp. to design dual- and quad-core processors for PCs and corporate server networks.