|
Intel cranks up P4 speed
|
 |
July 2, 2001: 12:17 p.m. ET
Processors top out at 1.8 GHz; company eyes 2 GHz mark this quarter
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Widening the lead it has over its top rival, Intel Corp. Monday announced the availability of its two fastest Pentium 4 microprocessors, operating at 1.6 and 1.8 gigahertz.
The company also said it plans to introduce a 2 GHz version of the chip later this quarter.
With the availability of the new chips, Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates) extends the lead it has over Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: Research, Estimates), whose Athlon processors have been challenging Intel's Pentiums in the high-end computer market.
Currently, AMD's Athlon processors top out at 1.4 GHz, and the company is aiming to roll out a 1.5 GHz version sometime during the second half of the year.
In recent years, Intel and AMD have engaged in a fierce battle of one-upmanship as they vied for the title of microprocessor king, with each trying to outdo the other with incremental increases in microprocessor clock speeds.
Intel gained the advantage over its smaller rival late last year when it introduced the Pentium 4, which is based on a whole new architecture, called Net Burst, which Intel says is designed to optimize multimedia applications and can handle much higher clock speeds.
Intel is aiming the Pentium 4 processors, which are slated to replace its Pentium 3 line by 2002, at business users who run the latest data-intensive software programs as well as consumers PC users who run demanding digital video and audio and three-dimensional graphics used in advanced video games.
The Pentium 4 chips are used in conjunction with Intel's 850 chipset, which enables it to work with high-speed memory systems based on technology called Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory, or RDRAM.
AMD's Athlon line supports an alternative high-speed memory technology called Double Data Rate, or DDR.
In 1,000-unit quantities, Intel said the 1.8 GHz version of the Pentium 4 is priced at $562. The 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 is priced at $294 in lots of 1,000.
Shares of Intel were up more than 4 percent in early afternoon Nasdaq trade Monday. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
