Intel to release 2.4GHz P4

Determined it can win the performance argument with Advanced Micro Devices on

the basis of the MegaHertz speed gap between the Pentium 4 and Athlon chips,

Intel is expected to announce a new 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 processor. Currently, the

fastest Pentium 4 chip runs at 2.2 GHz. The fastest AMD Athlon does about 1.7

billion cycles per second. The 2.4GHz Pentium 4 chip will cost $560 each in

quantities of 1,000, typically the price at which Intel introduces its

top-of-the-line processor.

Just one year ago, AMD's Athlon processors were faster than Intel's. But the

Santa Clara chip company has since embarked on a strategy to put an

ever-increasing performance gap between its top-of-the-line chips and those form

AMD. While AMD has been able to claim similar performance due to a better

architecture, the megahertz gap is quickly becoming too large and thus

relegating the Athlon chip to second-class citizenship in the world of PC

processors.