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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Breaking News -
Platforms:
Intel Boosts Computer
Chips
Intel Corp said it had refreshed its line of microchips for desktop
computers
with a new version of the Pentium 4 processor, designed to run increasingly
power-hungry office and home entertainment software faster.
Intel's new chips, code-named Prescott, contain more than twice as many
transistors -- the microscopic switches that do the number crunching for
computers -- in a smaller area than the previous chip.
However, the bulk of the speed advantage of Prescott will only become
evident
in faster versions of the chip to be released later in the year, Intel
said.
The world's largest chip maker also said it will cut prices on its desktop
chips by between 16 percent and 33 percent, following a pattern of its
previous product introductions.
Most personal computers makers, including Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co,
will have PCs with Prescott chips for sale on Monday.
Bill Siu, vice president and general manager of Intel's desktop platforms
group, said the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip maker designed Prescott to be
used in a new form of computer that Intel calls the Entertainment PC, which
connects directly to televisions and streams video and audio around the
home.
"It will be the very logical choice for the next-generation PC platform,"
Siu
told reporters.
Later in the year, Prescott will be teamed with a supporting chip set
giving
it wireless networking and stereo-quality audio capabilities.
Intel spent heftily on chip-making tools through the recently concluded
three-year semiconductor downturn, giving it the industry's first capability
to produce chips with features as small as 90 nanometers, or billionths of a
meter, at high volumes.
Prescott will initially be sold at speeds of up to 3.4 gigahertz, or
billions
of cycles per second, with speeds up to 4 gigahertz by the end of 2004. The
3.4 gigahertz chip will be sold in large quantities for $417 each.
Whither 64-BIT?
Some analysts who closely follow chip technology say they believe Prescott
may
contain hidden features, including a 64-bit capability, that could be turned
on should consumers show an interest in the technology, which offers
advantages for heavy-duty software applications like gaming.
Intel declined to comment on whether the chip has such hidden features.
Peter Glaskowsky, editor in chief of Microprocessor Report, said he does
not
believe Intel intends to turn on the 64-bit feature, but might be preparing to
introduce it in an upcoming update to Prescott at the end of the year.
"We don't believe it will be productized," he said, "but it could be far
enough along that they could do a demo of it" in mid-February at an Intel
technology conference in San Francisco.
Giving its desktop chips -- and a lower-end server chip called Xeon, based
on
the same technology -- a 64-bit capability would be a tacit admission that
Intel is following the lead of Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
AMD last year began selling a chip for home and business computers that has
both 32- and 64-bit capabilities. If Intel follows suit with a similar chip,
AMD could have a competitive advantage, at least initially, said Nathan
Brookwood, a technology analyst with Insight 64.
"To the extent that AMD is there early, they have a slight head start,"
Brookwood said.
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