Reclaims megahertz lead
By Marcia Savage
Computer Reseller News
Santa Clara, Calif.
7:16 PM EST Mon., Oct. 25, 1999
Targeting everything from desktops and mobile PCs to
workstations and servers, Intel Corp. Monday launched
15 new Pentium III chips.
"This is the largest launch in terms of products in Intel's
31-year history," said Paul Otellini, executive vice
president and general manager of the Intel Architecture
Business Group, at a press event held here.
With its new 733MHz Pentium III, Intel reclaimed the
lead in the megahertz race with Advanced Micro
Devices Inc. AMD, Sunnyvale, Calif., introduced a
700MHz Athlon processor earlier this month.
For the desktop, Intel's new processors operate at clock
speeds of 733MHz, 700MHz, 667MHz, 650MHz, 600MHz,
550MHz, 533MHz and 500MHz. Some feature a faster
133MHz front-side bus while others have a 100MHz bus.
Intel also introduced the first Pentium III chips for
mobile PCs, operating at 500MHz, 450MHz and 400MHz.
The chips feature a faster 100MHz system bus compared
with the current 66MHz bus speed on Intel's mobile
chips.
For two-way servers, Intel added three new Pentium III
Xeon chips at clock speeds of 733MHz, 677MHz and 600MHz. For workstations, Intel
now offers Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon processors at speeds of 733MHz, 667MHz
and 600MHz.
All of the new Pentium III chips, formerly code-named Coppermine, are produced on
advanced 0.18-micron process manufacturing technology, which allows Intel to build
smaller, faster and less expensive chips. Coppermine features an integrated Advanced
Transfer Cache with 256 Kbytes of memory, as opposed to the off-die cache of the
current Pentium III chips.
Otellini said Coppermine's advancements boost performance up to 26 percent at the same
clock speed over current Pentium III chips produced on 0.25 micron.
Coppermine comes about a month later than Intel originally planned, and the
Rambus-supporting 820 chipset intended to go with the new processors still has yet to
arrive. Currently, the new Pentium IIIs with 133MHz system bus are supported by Intel's
810E chipset and Via Technology Inc.'s Apollo Pro133A.
Intel had planned to launch the 820 Sept. 27 but canceled the product introduction at the
last minute due to technical problems. The cancellation forced PC makers to put their
820-based system launches on hold.
Pat Gelsinger, vice president and general manager of Intel's desktop products group, said
Monday that Intel will ship the 820 this quarter.
While the 820 remains in a holding pattern, Intel did unleash the 840 chipset, which also
supports the new Rambus memory technology, for workstations and low-end servers.
Direct Rambus DRAM is a new high-speed memory interface that promises overall
enhanced system performance.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel also introduced a socketed Pentium III at 500MHz and
550MHz speeds. The new socketed flip-chip, or FC-PGA 370, version of the Pentium III,
is similar in size to the 370-pin socket used in Intel's low-cost Celeron processors. The
two chips cost $239 and $368, respectively, in volume quantities.
The 733MHz Pentium III is $776, the 700MHz is $754, the 667MHz is $605, the 650MHz is
$583, the 600MHz (with either 100MHz or 133MHz bus) is $455 and the 533MHz is $305.
All prices are in volume quantities.
The 733MHz Pentium III Xeon is $826, the 667MHz Xeon is $655 and the 600MHz Xeon
is $505.
Also:http://www.cnnfn.com/1999/10/25/technology/wires/intel_wg/ |
