Intel quietly ships low-voltage Core 2 Duos

Intel appears to have launched a pair of low-voltage Core 2 Duo processors. The two CPUs, the L7200 and L7400, both appear on the chip maker's website, though not on its official public price list as yet.

The L7200 and L7400 are clocked at 1.33GHz and 1.5GHz, respectively. Both operate on a 667MHz frontside bus and contain 4MB of shared L2 cache. Each consumes no more than 17W.

The two low-voltage 'Merom' chips first appeared on Intel roadmaps back in May 2006, marked with a Q1 2007 debut window. They're due to be joined by the ultra-low voltage U7500 next quarter.

Q2 should also see the arrival of the L7300 and L7500, Socket P versions of the L7200 and L7300 - the higher model numbers arise from the later chips' support for an 800MHz FSB. Socket P is the new interconnect being introduced with 'Santa Rosa', the next generation of Intel's Centrino platform. Other Santa Rosa-friendly processors are said to be scheduled to ship in May.