Intel have released its answer to AMDs Phenom II X2s.

These CPUs are set to deliver great performance at a much cheaper price than its i5 and i7 siblings. Prices will be < $200 AUD for 2 cores and 4 processing threads. They use intel's 1156 Socket and will be compatible with P55 motherboards with a BIOS update. They include much more such as:

"32nm dual-core processing runs two independent processor cores in one physical package at the same frequency.

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology delivers two processing threads per physical core for a total of four threads for massive computational throughput. This 4-way multi-task processing allows each core of your processor to work on two tasks at the same time.

Intel® Smart Cache is shared cache dynamically allocated to each processor core, based on workload. This efficient, dual-core-optimized implementation increases the probability that each core can access data from the fast cache, significantly reducing latency to frequently used data and improving performance.

Intel® HD Graphics provides superb visual performance for sharper images, richer color, and life-like video and audio. Available on select models of the all new 2010 Intel® Core™ processor family."

- Intel.com