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Intel says it plans to roll out a bevy of midrange processors, all built on its new 45-nanometer manufacturing process, on Monday. Game computer vendors, among others, are expected to follow suit with new machines.

Intel Core 2 Quad processor

(Credit: Intel)

The Core 2 Quad Q9650 heads the list of updated chips, according to Intel. It has a core clock speed of 3GHz, a 12MB level-2 cache, a 1333MHz front-side bus, and is rated at 95 watts. Generally, the larger the level-2 cache memory, the better the performance. The front-side bus (FSB) carries data between the processor and other silicon.

Several retailers already have the new processors listed on their Web sites. TheNerds.net has the Q9650 listed at $576, the lowest price I saw. Retailers’ prices are typically higher than Intel’s official list prices, so the prices announced by Intel Monday will likely be lower than those retailers’ offerings.

A bit further down the list is the Core 2 Quad Q9400 with a clock speed of 2.66GHz, 6MB of cache, and a 1333MHz FSB. This has a list price of $284 on TheNerds.net.

Core 2 Duo chips will also get a refresh. The E8600 has a clock speed of 3.33GHz, 6MB of cache, and a 1333MHz FSB. The E7300 runs at 2.66GHz with 3MB of cache, and has a 1066MHz FSB.

Game PC vendors such as Falcon Northwest and Dell’s Alienware unit plan to announce new systems based on the processors Monday, according to sources.