The chip maker will deliver in November its first quad-core processors—chips that incorporate four processors each—for both desktops and servers, said CEO Paul Otellini here, in an opening keynote speech at the Intel Developer Forum.

The quad-core chips themselves will offer up to 70 percent greater performance in desktops and 50 percent in servers.

However, Intel will continue to push for greater performance, using a combination of more advanced multicore chips, improvements in processor microarchitecture—updating the circuitry that underlies its chips—and more advanced manufacturing technologies.

The company believes that combination will allow it to deliver a 300 percent increase in performance per watt—the amount of work a chip can perform for a given amount of energy it consumes—by the end of the decade, Otellini said.

"The initial quad-core products will be targeted for the enthusiast or the gamer segment of the marketplace. This becomes the first quad-core chip in the industry…that is designed for a desktop processor," Otellini said.

However, "What we will commit to you for these three [Intel processor microarchitecture] generations is a 300 percent increase between now and the end of the decade," Otellini said.

The chip's 80 cores are simpler than those that will be found in its quad-core processors.

However, each chip can deliver 10 gigaflops per watt in performance while running at 3.1GHz.