Intel Corp. demonstrated a Pentium III running above 1 gigahertz on the first day of its forum for PC OEMs and developers.
Electronic Buyers' News
(02/23/99, 5:10 p.m. EDT)
Intel Corp. demonstrated a Pentium III running above 1 gigahertz on the first day of its forum for PC OEMs and developers.
Intel executives did not say whether the chip had been artificially cooled, or whether the Pentium III family would eventually scale to that speed. However, the chip demonstration was merely an example of the pace of Intel's chip developments, which will nevertheless suffer a few bumps as the company moves forward.
Intel executives confirmed that the Intel 820 chipset has been delayed, apparently sacrificing a version supporting 600-MHz Direct Rambus RDRAM that was scheduled to be launched in June. Without specifically commenting upon the chipset itself, executives said "next-generation chipsets" supporting Direct Rambus and the ATA-66 storage interface - both features of the Intel 820 - would be launched in the third quarter, according to Pat Gelsinger, executive vice-president and general manager of Intel's Desktop Products Group.
As Intel charted an aggressive roadmap moving into the next millennium, executives professed themselves satisfied with the progress of the PC but outlined a renewed drive to continue expanding its reach. According to Paul Otellini, executive vice-president of Intel's Architecture Business Group, 1998 worldwide sales of PCs exceeded the sales of TVs, and users sent more email messages than first class paper mail.
Otellini also produced market figures that demonstrated that PCs selling for above $2,000 declined from a 40% market share in the late 1980's to under 10% last year, justification for Intel's continued push to reduce the PC's manufacturing cost. "But we still haven't found the recipe for continued significant growth," Otellini said.
In 1999, the main ingredient in that recipe will be Intel's Pentium III, scheduled to be launched later this week. Backing up independent online testing agencies, Intel claimed significant increases in system performance in tests conducted upon Pentium III systems, compared to those using Pentium II processors at the same clock speeds.
In a speech recognition, photo editing, and video creation software application, Intel claimed performance enhancements of 37%, 64%, and 20%, respectively.
Promising to add fuel to the current controversy about the Pentium III's security feature, a German publication reported today that it had crackedthe serial identification feature built into the Pentium III, allowing a Web site or other malicious third party to identify the PC and potentially the identity of the user.
Despite the objection of activists, Intel will continue to develop the Pentium III, which by the end of the year will exceed 600 MHz, according to Gelsinger, complimented by a 500-MHz Celeron.
In mobile PCs, the Intel mobile Pentium II will exceed 600 MHz, complimented by a 400-MHz Celeron chip. In 2000, Intel will unveil its Geyserville technology, allowing processors to run at higher speeds when plugged into a docking station. Finally, in servers and workstations, Intel's Xeon will break the 600 MHz barrier, using six to eight processors.
Intel disclosed no new information concerning its corresponding chipsets, save for the delay in the Intel 820 and the addition of the 440MX chipset for the mobile PC, the features of which were not made public at this time.
Gelsinger's glimpse of Intel's future technology initiatives also offered few surprises.
Intel's forthcoming 64-bit chip, Merced, is still on track to sample by the middle of this year; the chip is in the final stages of "verification," or testing. Already, six separate operating systems have been successfully tested upon it.
As a complement to Intel's Next-Generation I/O interface, Gelsinger briefly described a future storage interface, "Future ATA". In the second half of 2000, the ATA storage interface will be "made narrower, with faster performance," Gelsinger said. The idea is to craft a more cost-effective solution that can nevertheless scale to faster speeds. "Future ATA" will be designed to replace ATA-66 - included in the delayed Intel 820 chipset - and persist until about 2005, he said.
Finally, Intel expressed concerns that Apple Computer Inc.'s iMac would overshadow the PC in creating radical new chassis designs. "The PC has become a dump truck of technology, and we have to work together to produce a consumer appliance," said Gelsinger.
Gelsinger ended his speech with a Hollywood-style "fashion show", together with the Intel "bunny people" that were apparently resurrected after Intel canceled their advertising campaign last year. Boxes by NEC Corp., MultiQ, Philips, Hauser, and others showcased artistic chassis designs that literally mixed form with function.
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And, BTW, Good evening, Edamo and All.
Luciano M. Trentadue |
