Intel has launched its latest desktop processor today, claimed to
be the first in its Pentium 4 family to break the 3GHz speed
barrier. PC vendors are preparing to unveil machines powered by the
chipmaker's latest offering.
The chip, which has a clock speed of 3.06GHz, is also the first
Pentium 4 to feature a technology the company calls
"hyperthreading". Already built into its Xeon range of server
processors, the technology allows multiple software threads to run
more efficiently on a single processor.
Intel executives claimed users should see a performance benefit of
up to 30%, but this also depends on whether support for
hyperthreading is built into the operating system and software.
Some versions of Linux and Microsoft's Windows XP feature support,
but earlier editions of Windows do not, while application software
support is limited.
The chip costs $637 (£402) in bulk quantities of 1,000 units, a
significant premium over Intel's second-fastest desktop processor,
the 2.8GHz version of its Pentium 4. In Tokyo, the chip went on
sale Thursday afternoon in single unit quantities for ¥86,000
(£452).
Dell and Hewlett-Packard are to introduce machines featuring the
chip, and NEC said its Mate MA30V/B, which features the chip,
128Mbytes of DDR (double data rate) memory and a 30Gbyte hard disk
drive, would go on sale next month for ¥244,000.
Online PC vendor Epson also began offering the chip in its
Endeavour MT-7000, which has a price of ¥197,600 and comes with
512Mbytes of DDR memory, 120Gbyte hard disk drive and an ATI
Technologies Radeon 9000 Pro graphics board.
Sotec also announced a computer featuring the chip, while Fujitsu
said it would begin selling a desktop PC and workstation featuring
the processor late next month.