Print

Mail

wiki links

Intel offers Pentium4s with improved features

In a bid to increase its share of the microchip market, Intel Corp is unveiling two smaller and higher-performing versions of its Pentium4 chip today.

Code-named Northwood, the latest Pentiums are the first Intel desktop computer chips to feature circuits that measure just 0.13 microns, or about 0.001 the width of a strand of hair. By contrast, components on current Pentium 4s measure 0.18-microns.

Analysts say the latest Pentiums will nudge Intel's chip speed and performance ahead of its chief rival, Advanced Micro Devices Corp, which is not expected to release a desktop chip using 0.13-micron manufacturing until later this year. Intel dominates 75 to 80 percent of the PC chip market, leaving the remaining 20 to 25 percent to AMD.

Separately, Intel released a Celeron processor Friday for lower-end computers. The new Celeron runs at 1.30GHz and delivers performance similar to that of Intel's Pentium III line.

The new Celeron will sell for US$118 wholesale.

Intel's new line of Pentiums will be the fastest and best-performing chips on the market, with clock speeds of 2.2GHz and 2.0GHz. Existing Pentium4 chips can run at up to 2GHz, the company says. Systems using the new chips will go on sale on Monday, said Christine Chartier, an Intel spokeswoman.

Intel's move "is not going to cause a big shift in market dynamics, but it will push AMD to get their new design out this year," said analyst Martin Reynolds of Stamford, Conn.'s Gartner. The Northwood chips are expected to be priced at US$562. AMD has not released a price for its coming chip, but the company usually aims to undercut Intel prices.

The new Pentium's smaller components mean there will be more room for a larger cache, a reservoir of memory that stores recently used information for quick retrieval. That will enable more speed increases in the future without sacrificing performance improvements, Reynolds said.

"They're setting the runway for going up to 3GHz with that larger cache," he said.

To produce its latest microchip, Intel came up with a new manufacturing process that allows the company to fit more chips on each silicon wafer it produces, which allows it to save money and churn out more chips.
This story has been viewed 2195 times.