Irvine (CA) – As Intel and AMD are gearing up to launch a new generation of microprocessors, the outgoing models are likely to drive the Christmas business for the PC industry. In one of the more significant trends, quad-core processors are replacing dual-core processors on the upper-end of the mainstream segment.

Gateway is leading the charge with the announcement of its key system configuration for this year’s holiday retail battle. What we are seeing again is what appears to be an even stronger focus towards notebooks, but there is movement in the desktop market as well: Quad-core machines will be more visible and priced to be in reach more mainstream shoppers.

Gateway’s retail quad-core system will have a Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU, Intel’s G33 chipset, 3 GB of memory, a 500 GB hard drive, a GeForce 8500GT graphics card and a DVD burner for $960 (without monitor). Dell is offering a comparable XPS desktop with a 20” LCD for about $1400. HP offers its entry-level quad-core system for about $1000. If the brand doesn’t matter, users can find even lower prices for white-box systems through Ebay or price-comparison services. We were able to find Core 2 Quad computers (without monitor) for as low as $700 earlier today.

17” screens may become a key trend for Christmas notebooks. Accordingly, both of Gateway’s retail notebooks come with that screen size. For $800, the company is offering a Core Duo T2310 model with 1 GB of main memory, integrated graphics and a 160 GB hard drive. $950 will buy a newer Core 2 Duo platform, 1 GB of memory and a 250 GB hard drive.