Expected to be branded Xeon 3000, system builders said the CPU effectively will replace the Pentium D that some system manufacturer, including top-tier vendors such as Dell and IBM have been using to power entry-level servers for small businesses.

System builders said they believe the Xeon 3000 series will be made up of the top-performing Core 2 Duo chips and is designed for one socket or what Intel calls uniprocesso servers.

One system builder said Xeon 3000 processors will be paired with the Mukilteo-2 chipset, which he believed will offer some entry-level reliability and manageability features unavailable in the desktop chipsets.

The announcement, expected during the fall conference, marks the first time Intel will brand all processors aimed at servers under Xeon. Pentium-D currently powering some servers and their companion chipsets have been branded under the desktop line. An Intel spokeswoman declined to comment.