Intel is still pushing its high-end processors by putting DVD in software. Don't you know they would do it in hardware if they had a good design?........................
Intel lays out plans for
full-court press
By Lisa DiCarlo , PC Week Online
11.07.97 6:00 pm ET
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel Corp. today laid the foundation for
expanding its reach in the computer market by disclosing plans to build
products for everything from $500 Java-based clients to "lean" clients to
eight-way servers.
At its biannual financial briefing near its headquarters here, Intel's top
ranks also disclosed an aggressive Pentium II road map for portables,
desktops and servers.
The strategy is based on delivering specially built products for every
segment of computing, whether it be for business or consumer use.
''We will have a single Pentium II brand, but with substantially different
implementations, from low-end basic PCs to high-performance
workstations and servers,'' said Craig Barrett, president and chief
operating officer.
For performance-oriented business desktops, that means Pentium II
microprocessors that reach 450MHz by the end of 1998. These
systems will also reach 1GB of graphics bandwidth.
Today's Pentium II tops out at 300MHz. By early 1998, Intel will
deliver a 333MHz processor with 512KB of L2 cache, followed by a
350MHz, 400MHz and, finally, the 450MHz version, Barrett said.
Intel is also throwing a lot of weight behind the sub-$1,000 PC. In
addition to delivering a lower-cost, no-cache version of the Pentium II in
mid-1998, the company will also release a reference profile for building
what it calls a "lean client."
The reference profile, due in the first quarter of 1998, will be a
"simplified version of the NetPC spec but will include the same
management architecture,'' said Paul Otellini, executive vice president,
worldwide sales and marketing.
He added that systems based on the spec could hit as low as $500 and
could be "diskless" machines that run under a myriad of operating
environments, such as the forthcoming multiuser version of Windows NT
-- called Hydra -- or Java.
''The reference spec for lean clients will enable OEMs to build systems
in the $500-to-$1,200 range,'' he said.
To ensure high performance and low cost at that price point, Intel will
build highly integrated chip sets that include graphics functions, among
other things, Otellini said. In addition, it will move traditional hardware
functions such as modem, audio and DVD into software, which will also
reduce cost.
The latter is Cyrix Corp.'s worst nightmare. The Richardson, Texas,
company has staked its future on the system-on-a-chip concept, which
pools several functions onto a single processor for a very low-cost
solution. Since Intel previously seemed uninterested in enabling such
low-cost systems and their attendant low margins, Cyrix, along with its
new National Semiconductor Inc. parent, had hoped to own the market.
''To date, we have not served the terminal replacement market, but we
have been concerned and focused on this for some time. However,
there is no conclusive data that shows sub-$1,000 PCs are expanding
the market in the United States,'' Otellini said.
On the server front, Intel will deliver processors in the first half of 1998,
code-named Deschutes, in a Slot 2 implementation. The processors will
also reach 450MHz by the end of 1998, and some models will have a
whopping 2MB of L2 cache. Today, Intel's only server offering, the
Pentium Pro, has 1MB of L2 cache.
Servers based on Slot 2 designs will also scale to eight processors, and
supporting chip sets, such as the forthcoming 450NX, will support up to
8GB of main memory, multiple PCI channels and intelligent I/O.
According to John Miner, vice president and general manager of Intel's
Enterprise Server Group, the anticipated move to network-based
computing, both in the office and in the home, will drive overall server
sales to a 30 percent compounded annual growth rate.
In portables, Intel plans to hit 300MHz for Pentium II processors in
1998. Some models will include up to 512KB of L2 cache.
Intel will also leverage the explosion in small-office computing to push its
networking products. Specifically, Otellini showed a four-port Fast
Ethernet hub it will sell to small businesses.
The company will also aggressively target its high-volume servers and
network interface cards toward small businesses. Microsoft Corp. was
mentioned as one major ISV also targeting these users. Microsoft
recently announced a small office edition of its BackOffice suite of
server applications.
Intel CEO and Chairman Andrew Grove was also on hand to moderate
a question-and-answer session. One notable comment: The company is
not counting on Windows 98, due in mid-1998, to drive PC sales.
''We're not counting on an [operating system] upgrade for sales," he
said. "Windows 98 cleans up a lot of the things the industry has been
working on [piecemeal]. But NT 5.0 will be an extremely important
product.'' |
