Intel Corp. will turn the performance crank again next week when it ships a new 550MHz Pentium III processor for desktop PCs.
The processor, which Intel originally announced Feb. 17, will form the heart of a multitude of new PCs from Compaq Computer, Dell Computer, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Toshiba America Information Systems, NEC Computer Systems Division and others, ranging in price from about US$1,800 to about US$2,500.
HP, for example, will announce several Pentium III 550MHz-based PCs, workstations and servers.
An HP Vectra model with the 550MHz processor, 128MB SDRAM, 13.5GB hard drive and a DVD-ROM will be priced at about US$2,400. A new Kayak XA-s workstation model with the chip will offer 128MB of SDRAM, a 9.1GB SCSI hard drive and an ELSA Gloria Synergy+ graphics card for about US$3,400. A new HP NetServer LPr based on the chip will start at about US$3,900, sources said.
HP is also expected to reduce prices on several of its existing PC models.
Gateway, meanwhile, will offer the 550MHz Pentium III in its GP Series for small and medium-size businesses and its E Series for enterprise sites, said sources close to the company.
Compaq will offer the chip in its DeskPro line of corporate PCs, sources close to the Houston-based manufacturer said.
IBM will update its IBM PC 300PL desktop models and IBM IntelliStation E Pro and M Pro workstation models with the new chip, sources said.
Toshiba will offer the 550MHz processor in its Equium 7100 line of desktops. Models with the chip are expected to start at about US$1,700, sources said.
NEC will use the chip in its PowerMate 5200 line, said sources close to the company.
Farther out on the horizon
With a new chip coming out, Intel is expected to reduce prices on existing Pentium III, Pentium II and Celeron chips next week. As previously reported, the largest expected Pentium III price cut, 35 percent, would reduce the 450MHz version to US$268. Pentium II chip prices should fall as much as 32 percent, while Celeron prices are expected to drop as much as 21 percent.
By the end of the third quarter, Intel will be shipping 600MHz-and-faster Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon chips, manufactured using the company's 0.18-micron process. The desktop chips will include 256KB of integrated Level 2 cache to increase performance, according to sources briefed by Intel.
Also coming in the fall is Intel's 820 chip set. Due to ship in September, the chip set will feature a 133MHz system bus, support for a four-speed accelerated graphics port and Rambus direct RAM (as well as synchronous dynamic RAM).
A 500MHz Celeron chip is also expected this fall, sources said.
In the first half of next year, Intel plans to ship new Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon processors running at clock speeds of 700MHz and greater, sources said.
Mobile Pentium III chips, which will first ship at speeds of 450MHz and 500MHz in September, will push past the 700MHz mark in the first half of 2000, sources said.
Intel officials declined to comment on unannounced products.
Additional reporting by Robert Lemos, ZDNN
