The single life for Atom is over--or at least one version. Intel said it has begun shipments of the first dual-core version of the Atom processor. Atom 330 pricing information and data sheets for customers will go live Monday, according to Intel. The chipmaker indicated at the Intel Developer Forum in August that it would be shipping the dual-core chip this month.

The power-efficient processor will be targeted at Atom-based desktops called nettops. At 8 watts, the chip has a higher power envelope than single-core Atom processors. Other specifications include a core clock speed of 1.6GHz, 1MB of level-2 cache, and support for DDR2 667MHz memory.

It's available as either a package with the Intel 945GC Express chipset (which includes built-in graphics) or as part of the Little Falls2 motherboard, Intel said.

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