MacRumors.com

DigiTimes is reporting that Intel will be set to launch its mobile quad-core processor, the Core 2 Extreme QX9300, in the third quarter of this year.

The processor will carry a hefty price tag at US $1,038 in thousand-unit quantities, and DigiTimes says Intel does not expect demand to really pick up until the second half of 2009. Intel had previously demoed the chip at their Fall Developer Forum.

While the processor looks to be the first quad-core mobile CPU, its adoption will be limited due to its higher-than-average thermal design power of 45 Watts. Other elements of the processor promise to be surprisingly full-featured compared to its desktop counterparts: 2.53 GHz, 1066 MHz front side bus, and 12 MB L2 cache.