Ali - Here's a low cost, sub $800 PC from Compaq that you will like.
It will sport the Cacheless 266 MHz Pentium II!
Maybe you can pick one up - if you start saving your money now.
I guess Compaq wants a cheaper 266 MHz CPU than AMD's K6. Perhaps AMD should lower their prices - it isn't nice for AMD to gouge the public!
Paul
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news.com
Intel readies low-cost
Pentium II
By Michael Kanellos
January 27, 1998, 6:15 p.m. PT
Intel (INTC) is expected to release its
Pentium II for sub-$1,000 consumer PCs in
April, setting the stage for a raft of new home
computers based on Intel's fastest chip
architecture.
The chip, code-named Covington, is a
"cacheless" Pentium II processor, meaning
that Intel has eliminated the extra, pricey
memory currently built into Pentium II chips.
One of the first vendors to adopt the chip will
be Compaq.
An Intel spokesperson confirmed the code
name of the chip.
Covington, which is due in April, will be the
first of the low-cost Pentium IIs promised by
Intel, according to John Joseph,
semiconductor analyst with Montgomery
Securities. To date, the Pentium II has been
found only in mid-range and high-end PCs.
Compaq will release a desktop PC using a
Covington chip by early summer. The
computer will contain a 4GB hard drive,
32MB of memory, and cost between $700
and $800, Joseph detailed.
The chip will initially run at 266 MHz and be
targeted at the "retail market," said industry
sources familiar with the rollout.
The chip will sell for approximately $100 to
$115, said Joseph, about 70 percent less
than the current cost of a 266-MHz Pentium II.
Most of the cost reductions will be made by
removing the onboard "level-2" cache
memory on the chip. Although lacking this
cache memory, Covington will continue to
use the "Slot 1" architecture featured on
other Pentium II chips.
"We used to call it Pentium II junior," he said.
"They reduced the price to bring the part
down into the sub-$1,000 area."
Actual manufacturing costs will be around
$40 dollars, he added.
Other Pentium II processors to be announced
at that time include 350- and 400-MHz
versions of the Deschutes processors, first
introduced on Monday of this week. (See
related story)
Joseph further added that Pentium II demand
has increased due to aggressive price cuts
by the company. Late last year, demand for
systems using the processor were both
below his own expectations and likely Intel's,
Joseph said. However, recent price cuts
have stimulated sales.
"Demand for Pentium II is really beginning to
take off now that Intel has cut the price," he
said.Computer vendors have also said that
demand for the processor has ramped up in
the past month. |
