Intel to launch faster P4

By Duncan Martell

SAN FRANCISCO: Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, will announce its speediest Pentium 4 processor, next week, according to industry sources, as the company looks to reap the benefits from increased production efficiencies.

Intel will announce its Pentium 4 chip running at a speed of 2.8 billion cycles per second, or 2.8 gigahertz a second, putting it farther ahead of its chief rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., in terms of clockspeed. Pricing on the chips wasn't immediately available. The introduction of the Pentium 4 chip running at 2.8 gigahertz was accelerated earlier this summer. Intel, based in Santa Clara, California, pulled in the introduction date of that chip from the fourth quarter to the third quarter, according to sources.

Intel also moved up the introduction of a Pentium 4 chip running at 3.0 gigahertz so that it will be available in time for the year-end holiday shopping season. Intel had planned to introduce that microprocessor -- the brains of a personal computer -- by the end of the year.

When Intel introduces new chips, it typically drops prices on the Pentium and Celeron processors it already has on the market. There is no reason to suspect that Intel will not again cut prices on its currently available chips when it introduces the new 2.8 gigahertz Pentium 4 on Monday.

Last year, Intel poured $7.3 billion into capital spending, much of it on chip-making equipment that can etch smaller lines onto semiconductor wafers and for gear that can handle wafers that are about a foot in diameter, compared with ones of a previous diameter of about 8 inches.

Some of the Pentium 4 processors to be announced on Monday will be made from the larger, 300-millimeter-diameter wafers, the sources said. All of Intel's current faster Pentium 4 chips for desktop PCs have dimensions that are as small as 0.13 microns across. The new equipment allows Intel and other chipmakers to get more usable chips from each wafer, boosting productivity and performance while cutting costs.

Intel's fastest Pentium 4 runs at 2.53 gigahertz and costs $637 in quantities of 1,000. Typically Intel introduces a new chip at about the price as the fastest, previously available chip. This suggests that the 2.8 gigahertz Pentium 4 chip will cost about $640 in quantities of 1,000.

Advanced Micro Devices, based in Sunnyvale, California, reportedly will introduce faster versions of its chips, an Athlon XP 2400+ and an Athlon XP 2600+ toward the end of the month. AMD's highest performance model now is the Athlon XP 2200+, which boasts a clock speed of 1.80 gigahertz.

© Reuters