Processors Toolkit

Intel unveils fastest Pentium 4s, chipsets

Michael Kanellos ZDNet US

Published: 17 Apr 2002 14:47 BST

April and May will be a busy time for the Santa Clara based chipmaker as well as its archrival, Advanced Micro Devices. Early next week, Intel will release a 2.4GHz version of the Pentium 4, which will be seen in new PCs coming from major manufacturers the same week.

Besides being the fastest member of the Intel processor line, the new 2.4GHz product will also be the smallest version of the chip to date, measuring only 131.4 square millimetres, according to a company representative. That makes it 10 percent smaller than current high-end Pentium 4s, a change that will ease manufacturing costs. The 2.4GHz chip will sell for around $560 each in volume quantities.

Subsequently, Intel will release two new chipsets for the Pentium 4, sources said. If the processor is the master element of a computer, the chipset is the butler, endlessly shuttling data back and forth from the processor, memory and other components.

First up will be the 845(g), a new chipset containing integrated graphics and built-in functionality for USB 2.0, according to sources. Adding graphics onto the chipset cuts manufacturing costs, which has made integrated chipsets popular with budget consumers and companies.

There's also a price advantage in integrating USB 2.0 into the chipset, a move expected to foster the connection standard, which lets users plug digital cameras and other peripherals into PCs. To date, only a handful of PC makers have adopted the standard because it currently requires extra chips. Version 2.0 is substantially faster than USB 1.0 and is expected to rival FireWire, a connection technology invented by Apple that's gaining vogue with Sony and other PC makers.

The 845(g) will be able to hook up with standard memory, called SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM), or with double data rate (DDR) DRAM, a faster variant of SDRAM. Intel has confirmed the product's general specifications and its second-quarter debut, but not the exact release date.

Then, on May the 6th, Intel will follow up with a new chipset, the 850(e), which will contain a 533MHz system bus, according to sources. The system bus is the data path between the chipset and the processor. To date, the Pentium 4 has featured a 400MHz system bus. Unlike the 845, the 850 chipset will work with memory based on designs from Rambus.