Intel will next year launch a low-cost desktop PC platform, it has been claimed. The news comes days after Asus said it's developing a desktop version of its Eee PC ultra-compact laptop for a 2008 release.

Intel's platform is codenamed 'Shelton' and is set to centre on a 45nm processors dubbed 'Diamondville', described by company presentation slides posted by Chinese-language site HKEPC as a "purpose-built low-cost processor".

Shelton is being designed specifically for low-cost systems, but will have an appeal to companies making thin clients, the chip giant reckons.

Diamondville can operate without a fan - a cost-cutting measure as much as an attempt to get Shelton into small form-factor PCs - and will be soldered to the motherboard. Boards will be based on either Intel's own 945GC integrated chipset or SiS' SiS671.

And here's the clincher that marks Shelton down almost certainly as the desktop Eee PC's foundation: it's designed to work with 2-4GB of Flash storage. That said, the chipset will also handle parallel ATA and SATA devices, and other peripherals through six USB ports. Early board pictures show a single DIMM slot and one PCI connector.

Shelton-based will be certified to run Windows Vista Basic.