Good news for all Intel lovers: after Intel launches its Wolfdale and remaining parts of Yorkfield 45nm generation, the top out of the box dual core speed will increase to 3.16GHz.

This new CPU is branded as Core 2 Duo E8500, and it will work at 3.16GHZ and will feature FSB1333 and 6MB of cache memory. Of course, it will fit in most of the existing LGA775 sockets and motherboards and it will sell for US$268 if you buy many of them.

The current plan is to replace a highly successful E6850 based Merom at 3.0GHz and its 65nm and to continue the good name for Core 2 Duo.

This item should launch on the 20^th of January, at least that is the current plan, and the launch plan involves two more 45nm dual cores. You can bet that they will overclock greatly, as its TDP is about 65W at 3.16GHz.