UPDATE 1-Intel introduces next-generation Pentium 4 chip
NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Intel Corp. <INTC.O> on Monday
introduced its speedy Pentium 4 processor, the first new
desktop processor design from the world's largest chipmaker
since the Pentium Pro processor in 1995.
The company said the Pentium 4 operates at speeds of 1.5
and 1.4 gigahertz, with room for achieving higher speeds in the
future. Analysts say the new chip -- the "brain" of a personal
computer -- should be able to reach speeds of 10 gigahertz or
so in five years, about 10 times faster than the latest Pentium
III.
Targeted mainly at Internet technologies, the latest chip
provides better graphics, video and multimedia performance than
its predecessors and features what Intel calls its Rapid
Execution Engine, which runs certain frequently operated
instructions at double the core clock speed of the chip.
It is priced at $819 and $644 each for the 1.5 and 1.4
gigahertz chips, respectively, in 1,000-unit quantities, Intel
said.
One of the biggest advances from the Pentium III, analysts
said, is the Pentium 4's 400 megahertz bus, which far outstrips
the speed of the current 133 megahertz bus. The bus transfers
data between the processor and main memory, and a faster bus
would give better video, audio and three-dimensional graphics.
The Pentium 4, based on commonly used benchmarks in the
industry, performs video encoding 47 percent faster than a 1
gigahertz Pentium III chip and performance in gaming is faster,
too -- some 44 percent faster on Quake III Arena, a popular
computer game, Intel said.
With 42 million transistors -- 50 percent more than Intel's
Pentium III -- and a size that's twice as big as its
predecessor, some analysts say, the Pentium 4 could cause
problems for Intel when it cranks up production to millions of
units.
Intel has had a couple of manufacturing misfires this year,
one with a processor and another with a chipset, a device
containing the guts of a PC.
Concurrent with the official launch of the chip on Monday
morning, major PC makers including Compaq Computer Corp.
<CPQ.N> and Gateway Inc. <GTW.N> unveiled Pentium 4-packing PCs
for sale for about $2,000.
((Nicole Volpe, New York Newsroom, 212-859-1700))
REUTERS
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