Intel demos 2-GHz chip
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Bloomberg) — Intel Corp., the world's largest computer-chip maker, demonstrated a version of its new Pentium 4 processor running at more than 2 gigahertz and unveiled a faster Xeon chip for servers and workstations.
The presentation at the Intel Developer's Forum in San Jose, Calif., showed how the Pentium 4's design could develop in coming years. Pentium 4 personal-computer chips running at 1.4-GHz will available in the fourth quarter. The company wouldn't say when it might ship 2-GHz chips.
Intel has been locked in a battle for the fastest chip with Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which nabbed sales earlier this year when Intel couldn't meet demand from PC makers. Intel's speediest Pentium IIIs for PCs now run at 1.13-GHz. Advanced Micro's fastest product, a 1.1-GHz chip, will be available in systems next week.
''The Pentium 4 is going to be the fastest desktop platform in the world,'' said Albert Yu, senior vice president of Intel's Architecture Group.
At 2-GHz, 2 billion electrical pulses go through the chip every second. The more pulses, the faster a chip can perform tasks. The Pentium 4 also sends data faster to other parts of a computer, at 400 megahertz, or million pulses per second, rather than the current 133-MHz. It also has more features for graphics, video and security.
The new Xeon chips, designed for computers that dish up Web pages, run at 1-GHz, while the prior version ran at 933-MHz. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has boosted Xeon's performance this year and added more cache memory to help computer makers sell Intel-based systems that will be faster than comparable machines from rivals including Sun Microsystems Inc.
Intel shares rose $1 to $73.06 in midafternoon trading. The stock has risen 78% this year, the best performance in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Advanced Micro shares rose 84 cents to $34.94 and have more than doubled in 2000. |
