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Intel shows off Pentium4 uses

Intel Corp demonstrated on Tuesday its Pentium4 chip that works almost twice as fast as the biggest computer-chipmaker's best, introduced just Monday.

Intel executive vice president Paul Otellini showed off a Pentium4 PC processor running at 3.5GHz. The company started selling a 2GHz Pentium4 Monday and has said the chip will reach 10GHz in a few years.

Much of Otellini's talk at a conference on Tuesday focused on Intel's efforts to improve the performance of semiconductors in ways other than cranking up the speed. The chipmaker highlighted features in development now that bolster certain programs or markets. That tailored approach better matches the increasing segmentation in chip sales, Intel said.

"For 20 years, we have been focused religiously on delivering and taking advantage of that next megahertz," Otellini said at the Intel Developer Forum in San Jose, California. "We need to start thinking about beyond the megahertz."

Still, Intel gave its first demonstration of a version of the Pentium4 based on thinner, 0.13 micron circuits. The use of smaller wiring helps make chips faster. One system used a 3GHz chip to encode three videos while decoding high-definition television and playing the video game Quake all at the same time.

Otellini declined to say when 3GHz chips will come out.

Intel shares fell US$0.64 to US$$28.51. They've lost 61 percent of their value in the past year.

The Santa Clara, California-based company outlined a new feature, code-named Jackson after a small river in Oregon and now called "Hyper-Threading," that Intel says can improve certain server and workstation applications by 30 percent.

Hyper-Threading means duplicating some resources inside a chip so that the operating system software thinks there are actually two processors inside. It will be included in Xeon chips for servers that run Web sites next year and rolled out in PC and laptop systems in 2003, said Shannon Poulin, an Intel manager who's helping promote the new features.

As consumers run more processor-intensive programs at once -- from digital video to speech recognition to encryption -- they'll need the extra power that Hyper-Threading can add, Poulin said.

Intel has been working on Hyper-Threading for more than four years and won't say how much more the addition will cost.

Intel Vice President Abhi Talwalkar said the company has resumed sales of 900MHz Pentium III Xeon chips for server computers after halting shipments in April because of a flaw. Last month, the company said only a small number of chips were affected.

Otellini also disclosed some details of a new Intel chip designed specifically for laptops, dubbed Banias. The processor, to debut in 2003, will fuse some instructions together to complete them quicker. It will be built so that only the circuits being used will get power, with the rest sleeping until needed.

He reiterated that Intel expects sales during the next few months to be stronger than in the first half of this year.

"Anything has to be better than the first half," he said.

The Intel Developer Forum, held twice a year, runs through today.

Monday, the chipmaker introduced the 2GHz processor and discussed some research efforts that eventually could lead to wearable blood-glucose monitors for diabetics or help measure hot spots in fighting forest fires.

Originally a show to highlight PC advances, the forum has expanded into communications and related areas. More than half the presentations this time focus on software issues.

Microsoft Corp's Jim Allchin showed off the biggest software maker's new Windows XP operating system.
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