Jim, Re: RE:"Why offer a 2.6GHz chip a $500 when you can get $500 for a 2.2GHz chip?"
To regain market share and put AMD in a world of hurt.
I'm sure there are pros and cons to doing so. While in the short term, Intel could put the squeeze on AMD by increasing the clock frequency of Northwood to 2.4GHz, or maybe even 2.6GHz, but the problem would be if those frequencies yielded much smaller units. Northwood is brand new, and no doubt could use a few steppings to get higher frequencies. There is also no doubt a lot that Intel can do to optimize their .13u process, too, including tuning it to lower leakage, which may be a problem at higher frequencies. Since there is no rush right now, Intel doesn't need to risk having another Pentium III 1.13GHz fiasco by pushing out too many Northwood frequencies before they are ready for them. Therefore, I think that Intel would do well to simply keep up with (rather than completely surpassing) AMD's releases, and always stay one step ahead of even their model rated numbers. In this way, Intel can continue to boast performance leadership, and at the same time, maximize profits by getting great yields on their highest productised frequencies.
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