At the International Solid State Circuits Conference, Intel Corp.'s VP and CTO Patrick Gelsinger predicted that chips would be able to run at 20 to 30GHz by 2010. He also said, however, that 425-million-transistor chips would dissipate 3,000 to 5,000 watts at temperatures close to a rocket nozzle,

"I don't think we know how to cool a 5000watt processor," Gelsinger said.

For more on Gelsinger's predictions and the chip industry's strategies for dealing with heat problems, read bloomberg.com, eetimes.com and eetimes.com.