During an event at Computex today, Intel officially announced its new 965 Express chipset line designed for the upcoming Core 2 processors. The 965 lineup is due to ship over the next couple of months and will include the P965 Express chipset, which Intel says enables "breakthrough PC performance, greater power efficiency, quieter systems and theatre-like sound quality.� More interestingly, the P965 chipset will have support for 800 MHz DDR2 memory speeds-right in line with AMD's new Socket AM2 platform. Here's some info:

To significantly increase PC performance, the chipset incorporates Intel Fast Memory Access, an updated Memory Controller Hub backbone architecture that optimizes the system's memory bandwidth. It also supports DDR2 or double-data rate computer memory with data transfer speeds up to 800 MHz, enabling speedy access to files and a highly responsive PC. Chandrasekher also discussed a future integrated graphics chipset, called the G965 Express Chipset. This product will include a new feature called Intel Clear Video Technology, which enhances high-definition video playback including those from personal video recorders and digital camcorders for sharper image viewing quality. All of the 965 Express chipsets enable users to add a second external drive to a PC for extra data protection, Intel High Definition Audio for theater-like sound quality and Intel Quiet System Technology to reduce system noise and heat for a much quieter, yet higher-performing PC.

These chipsets will form the basis of systems supporting the Intel Viiv Technology and Intel vPRO Technology platforms that will be increasingly powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors. Chandrasekher also disclosed that Intel will introduce the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor at speeds of 2.93 Gigahertz in July, and a faster 3.2 Gigahertz version later in the year.

P965 and G965 Express boards are expected from ASUS, DFI, ECS, Epox, Gigabyte, MSI, Universal Abit and others. Important to note is that for ATI CrossFire users, the Broadwater family of chipsets will not support CrossFire.