Pentium chip price set to slide

Companies planning to adopt new systems based on Intel’s Pentium D processors can expect prices to fall in the coming weeks, as the chip giant introduces a new range of processors.

Firms may therefore want to delay their purchasing plans until Intel’s new chip pricing structure filters down to end users.
The pricing of Pentium chips is expected to slide as Intel introduces its new Core chips next month.

The new Core 2 Duo chips will make up the lion’s share of Intel’s product list by the second half of the year, meaning a potential Pentium clear-out by Intel.

The more powerful Core 2 Duo chips, formerly known as Woodcrest, Conroe and Merom, will be aggressively marketed for both high- and lower-end systems.

As well as being faster, the Core 2 Duo chips are more power-efficient than their established Pentium cousins.

Woodcrest, the server version of Core 2 Duo will arrive this month, and the Conroe desktop version will appear in July. The Merom notebook solution arrives in August.