Intel will release it's first quad-core processor for laptops next month, rounding out a broad update to its mobile computing platform.

"We're bringing quad-core to mobile in August," said Sujan Kamran, regional marketing manager for client platforms at Intel in Singapore. Kamran declined to disclose specifics of the quad-core chip, which will carry Intel's Core 2 Extreme moniker.

Getting a quad-core processor into a laptop is more about bragging rights than a genuine boost in performance. Very little PC software is designed to take advantage of multiple cores and it's unclear what performance benefits a quad-core chip would offer over a dual-core chip, such as the 3.06GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9100.

While official details of the upcoming quad-core chip are scarce, Australian PC maker Pioneer Computers is taking preorders for laptops based on an unreleased quad-core mobile chip, the 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300.

The chip is advertised as a $1,449 (US$1,390) upgrade to Pioneer Computers' DreamBook Style 9008 laptop. But adding a quad-core processor to the laptop doesn't come cheap: the cost of the upgrade is more than the laptop's $1,399 basic price.