To: stockman_scott who wrote (97488 ) 2/11/1999 8:50:00 PM From: Mohan Marette Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 176387
<--Pentium III-->What is the skinny? Prediction:Feb.26th should be a beautiful day. scott: Here is something fascinating,I have a feeling that we should make some chump-change on Feb.26,hype or no hype. ===============Dell Computer will come out with Dimension and Optiplex PCs using both the 450- and 500-MHz Pentium III chips, according to industry sources. =============What does Pentium III bring to the party? By Brooke Crothers and Michael Kanellos Staff Writers, CNET News.com February 11, 1999, 2:05 p.m. PT [update] As Intel and PC makers prepare for their biggest product introduction for the year, the old mantra of "where's the beef?" may be finding new resonance. The Pentium III chip, which will be previewed at the San Jose Convention Center on Wednesday and officially released in systems on February 26, offers users benefits over the Pentium II, including an ID feature, but not the earth-shattering sort of changes, at least not initially, that one might expect. The Pentium III will be faster than the Pentium II, and soon feature additional architectural innovations that will boost performance. But one of the main reasons to buy a Pentium III that computer makers will tout--a series of 70 new multimedia instructions--won't really have much of an effect on the user experience. Benefits from the new "Katmai" instructions won't become apparent until software vendors adopt them, and that is a process that will take time. Analysts point to the recent history of Intel's much-hyped MMX instructions as reason to doubt their efficacy. “Software developers have rewritten relatively few programs to take advantage of [Intel's new technology],” said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis, Minn. The hype, however, will be deafening. Not only will Intel launch a worldwide ad campaign, PC makers of every ilk will be announcing new models and upgrades for the Pentium III. Many of these machines will be priced in the $2,000 to $2,500 range. Some of the more salient examples include: