Whilst AMD are soon expected to launch their first line of 65nm processors (known as the "Brisbane" die shrink), word has just started spreading that Intel are already sampling 45nm chips, codenamed "Penryn".

These new Conroe variants will offer a whopping 6MB of cache and SSE4 extensions, they're expected to be introduced sometime during the second half of next year.

Head over to the Dailytech to find out more.

Reuters reports Intel is manufacturing prototypes of its upcoming Penryn processor core. Penryn is the upcoming 45nm die shrink of Intel's Core 2 architecture. Intel first demonstrated its 45nm fabrication capabilities at the D1D facility in Oregon. Current Penryn prototypes are being produced at Intel's Oregon factories as well, though a different facility.

In addition to the 45nm die shrink, Penryn is expected to introduce a couple more manufacturing process changes. These changes include shifting away from Silicon Dioxide gate dielectrics to High-k dielectrics. The gate electrodes will also be revamped with metal gates instead of the Polysilicon derivatives currently used.