Pentium 4-based PCs will get a performance boost next
week when Intel ships its 875 chipset, which pushes the top speed
of the front-side bus used with Pentium 4 chips from 533MHz to
800MHz.
Intel has scheduled a press conference to be held in Taipei on
15 April to announce the chipset, formerly known as Canterwood.
Chipsets are a key component in PCs, where they are used to
connect the processor to the main memory and provide an interface
with other PC components, including the graphics card and hard-disc
drives.
To coincide with the launch of the 875, Intel will also release
a version of its 3GHz Pentium 4 chip that will support the faster
bus speed.
A 400MHz front-side bus, which was supported by the earliest
Pentium 4 models, is also available. The increase in speed to
800MHz will result in increased overall system performance for PCs
with the 875 chipset.
The 875 is the first of two chipsets that Intel will unveil that
supports the 800MHz front-side bus. A second chipset, known as
Springdale, is expected to ship next month. Springdale incorporates
a revamped architecture which, Intel claimed, would boost the
performance of Gigabit Ethernet networking performance.
Engineering samples of 2.6GHz and 2.8GHz Pentium 4 processors
that support the new 800MHz front-side bus, both yet to be
announced by Intel, were on display yesterday in at least one shop
in Tokyo, although staff at the shop were unable to provide any
more information on the chips, including an anticipated launch date
and price.