800MHz processor availability
From a News.com article
"A Dell Computer salesperson today quoted more than a month build time for an 800-MHz Pentium III consumer system. While Compaq lists 800-MHz Presario consumer models on its Web site, a salesperson today said the company is not taking orders because processors are not yet available.
But Compaq is selling 800-MHz Athlon models, which can be built and delivered within 17 days, a salesperson said."
Proof Intel announced vapor. Dell, Intel's best customer, says it will take a MONTH to make a PIII 800 system while Compaq CAN'T TAKE ORDERS.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Athlon 800MHz systems are available to order from Compaq with delivery probably before the month ends.
______________________________________________________________________
AMD counters Intel with 800-MHz Athlon chip
By Joe Wilcox
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
January 6, 2000, 8:50 a.m. PT
AMD shot back at rival Intel today in the ongoing battle for supremacy in the microprocessor market by releasing its fastest Athlon chip to date.
AMD's new 800-MHz Athlon, announced today, matches the clock speed of Intel's fastest Pentium III chip and underscores a bitter rivalry between the two chipmakers.
AMD made the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Hardware makers Compaq Computer, Cybermax and IBM were on hand to show off new Athlon consumer PCs.
"For the first time in this rivalry, AMD has the ability to keep pace with Intel in this speed race," said Technology Business Research analyst Kelly Spang. "That basically puts a new twist on Intel and how it plans its own strategy in terms of its own product rollout."
But while AMD and Intel duke it out for the processor crown, most consumers couldn't care less, often favoring more affordable, lower-megahertz systems, said International Data Corp. analyst Roger Kay. "This clock speed thing matters more to the companies than it does to most consumers. It's about bragging rights. But as AMD responds tit for tat, what it does for AMD is make them appear to be in the game--and that is important."
Responding to increasing pressures from AMD, Intel late last month released the 800-MHz Pentium III Coppermine processor ahead of schedule and moved up the release of 850-MHz and 866-MHz processors for later this quarter.
While Intel officially says it accelerated its processor road map because of better manufacturing yields, the timing, at the end of the busy holiday shopping season, suggests AMD forced Intel to move faster, analysts said.
"Intel now must play for a worse-case scenario in terms of … speed grades," Spang said. "That is one of the traps Intel has fallen into recently. It was always the assumption Intel would be faster than AMD, and that assumption is being discarded in some cases."
Intel also faces delivery problems of the 800-MHz version and other Pentium III processors.
Gateway yesterday issued a profit warning, stemming in part from a shortage of 450-MHz Pentium III processors and 400-MHz Celeron processors.
The shortages hit Gateway hard as many of its systems are equipped with the 450-MHz Pentium III, said Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Fortuna.
A Dell Computer salesperson today quoted more than a month build time for an 800-MHz Pentium III consumer system. While Compaq lists 800-MHz Presario consumer models on its Web site, a salesperson today said the company is not taking orders because processors are not yet available.
But Compaq is selling 800-MHz Athlon models, which can be built and delivered within 17 days, a salesperson said.
Compaq, which once only offered AMD chips on its lower performance, low-cost systems, has been a big backer of Athlon. The PC maker has increasingly adopted Intel Celeron processors on its cheapest systems--those under $600--moving AMD processors into the lower midrange and lower high end of its consumer line.
news.cnet.com
______________________________________________________________________ |
