Intel cranks out fastest Pentium 4
C|Net | at | by Mike
The chipmaker on Tuesday announced its fastest Pentium 4 chip to date, a 2.4GHz processor for desktop PCs. As expected, the chip will be available from a wide range of brand-name PC makers, which began taking orders Tuesday. Most PC makers will add the new 2.4GHz chip to their high-end desktop PC models and pair it with large hard drives, generous memory allotments and large flat-panel displays. They will tout the new chip as the top-of-the-line performer in their lineups.
Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices won't be far behind. Last month, the company launched its new 1.73GHz Athlon XP 2100+ desktop processor. Despite the difference in clock speed, the Athlon chip offers competitive performance to the new Intel chip, reviewers have said. AMD also has faster chips in the works. The company has already begun shipping processors based on a new 130-nanometer processor core called "Thoroughbred." The first chips based on the new core and a new manufacturing process are expected to be for notebook PCs. However, AMD will migrate the technology to the desktop at a later date, boosting performance for those chips as well.