AMD will formally launch its dual-core desktop processor, the Athlon 64 X2 - aka 'Toledo' - on 31 May, the company has said.

The event - which takes place on the first day of this year's Computex show, in Taipei, Taiwan - will come five days after the launch of Intel's rival chip, the Pentium D, if speculation surrounding the chip giant's schedule proves correct.

As we reported (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/23/japan_prepares_for_pentium_d/) yesterday, Pentium Ds are already beginning to appear in Japanese computer stores. Intel is expected to announce that the chip has shipped on Thursday.

AMD's plans were made public late last week, Infoworld reports (http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/05/20/HNathlon64launch_1.html). Computex is certain to feature a range of motherboards that suppport the new AMD processors - and, for that matter, products based on Intel's dual-core desktop CPU.

AMD used Computex 2004 to launch its Socket 939 Athlon 64 processors. This year's show runs from Tuesday, 31 May to Saturday, 4 June. ®

Related stories

Japan gears up for Pentium D launch (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/23/japan_prepares_for_pentium_d/)
AMD: dual-core not for gamers... yet (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/22/amd_dual-core_games/)
Dual-core AMD Athlon 64 benchmarks emerge (http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/03/15/dual-core_athlon_bendmarks/)
Intel details twin 'desktrino' platforms (http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/03/01/intel_desktrino/)
Intel dual-core Smithfield to ship as Pentium D (http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/03/01/intel_pentium_d/)

Related review

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ dual-core CPU (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/09/review_amd_athlon_x2/)