Wed, Nov 22, 2000 page17

• Motherboard makers get on the Pentium express

  • By Kevin Chen / STAFF REPORTER
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  Intel Taiwan introduced its new chip to Taiwan yesterday with major motherboard makers -- Giga-Byte Technology Co (技嘉), Micro-Star International Co (微星) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) -- announcing their allegiance to the Pentium 4.

  The new Pentium 4, which utilizies Intel's NetBurst micro-architecture technology, has two different versions that run at 1.4 GHz and 1.5GHz respectively. The company claimed that the new processor is the biggest breakthrough in processor technology in five years -- three times faster than the Pentium III.

  

  Intel's new Pentium 4 was introduced to Taiwan yesterday.

  PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES

  But the new chip is expected to face strong competition from rival Advanced Micro Devices' (超微) Athlon chip. Intel claims the new processor will help upgrade Pentium-based systems that offer advanced audio/video, 3-D and animation performance over comparable systems in the marketplace, said Stanley Huang (黃逸松), director of marketing and business management of Intel Asia Pacific.

  According to Huang, several Taiwan motherboard makers -- including Acer Inc (宏基), GVC Corp (致福) and Mitac Corp (神達) -- are set to produce boards equipped with Rambus memory chips to support the Pentium 4. In addition, he expects Pentium 4 to account for 50 percent of the company's total chip output in early 2002, adding that both Pentium 4 and Pentium III processors will continue to co-exist for another year or two.

  But due to the company's insistence on using its 850 chipsets to manage the information flow between the Pentium 4 processor and the Rambus-type memory chips, industry analysts have cast doubt on the company's intention to make the Pentium 4 a mainstay for desktop PCs over the next two years.

  "Whenever Intel introduces a new processor or chipset, Taiwan's first-tier motherboard makers usually come out with new boards based on that architecture," said Andrew Teng (鄧安瀾), analyst at Taiwan International Securities Corp (金鼎綜合證券). "But can Intel produce enough 850 chipsets to match the company's needs?" Teng said.

  "Since Rambus memory chips are more expensive than other standards currently being used -- including DDR [double data rate] and SDRAM [synchronous dynamic random access memory] -- higher production costs are my second concern over the company's plan to dominate the chip market with the Pentium 4," he said.

  While Intel currently employs the Rambus memory architecture, the company has not ruled out the possibility of using DDR or SDRAM capable chipsets made by third parties such as VIA Technology Inc (威盛) and SiS Integrated Systems (矽統) in the future, Huang said yesterday. But Huang declined to name which companies Intel is engaged in licensing negotiations with, but did say their licensing policy is open to all.
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