Intel's next Core 2 Extreme quad-core gaming processor, the QX6850, may be expected to make its entrance in Q3, but the chip giant's roadmap has apparently begun showing the new product's 45nm successor.

Details remain scarce, but since the upcoming QX6850 is set to run at 3GHz on a 1333MHz frontside bus and pack in a total of 8MB of L2 cache - 4MB per core pair - it doesn't take a genius to work out that the 45nm version - based on Intel's 'Yorkfield' architecture - will at the very least match those specifications and probably exceed them.

Neither the 45nm CPU's model number nor its release window are yet known, but we'd guess it won't be seen until 2008.

According to a DailyTech report, we'll see a new, faster Core 2 Duo E4000-series processor in Q4: the 2.4GHz E4600. Like its predecessors, it will sit on an 800MHz FSB. Expect to pay around $133 for it.