AMD today introduced its Athlon 64 X2 chips at Computex in Taipei, Taiwan. Computex is one of the world’s largest hardware tradeshows.

Though AMD has previewed its dual-core microprocessors earlier this month, today was the official launch day. Dual-core microprocessors pack two layers of silicon on a single chip in order to enable the capability of two microprocessors. The dual-core chips are primarily being targeted at users who like to play games or multi-task.

Hewlett Packard (HP) said it’s ready to support AMD’s dual-core chips; the company is expected to mass ship dual-core PCs soon. In addition to HP, custom PC builders are also ready to ship PCs equipped with dual-core Athlon 64 X2 chips.

This time around, AMD has switched price points with Intel with the new chips. The company’s dual-core offerings will retail between $537 and $1001 depending upon the speed and other integrated features. Intel, however, will price its dual-core processors between $241 and $530.

Intel said it’s shipping 100,000 Pentium D microprocessors this quarter with millions expected to ship later in 2005.