1GHz Race Heading for Spring Finish

By Sushuma February 23, 2000 3:24 PM

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(ZDNet)-Intel Corp.?and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.?are racing to be the first to break the gigahertz barrier, this spring.?
It is still unclear who will reach the gigahertz milestone first, but Intel upped the ante last week at its Intel Developer Forum, announcing it was sampling 1GHz Pentium III chips to PC makers and revealing a new processor roadmap with accelerated launch dates for its Pentium III and Celeron processors.?Not to be outdone, AMD is preparing to begin shipments of 1GHz Athlon chips in the second quarter as well.?The fastest desktop processor currently available is AMD's 850MHz Athlon, which was introduced Feb.?11.?The 1GHz chips will primarily appeal to high-end gamers and some corporate users.?For many users, however, accelerated processor introductions mean little, aside from ensuring price cuts on older Pentium IIIs or Athlon processors.?Intel will begin shipping limited quantities of its 1GHz Pentium III chips in the second quarter of this year.?It is likely the 1GHz Pentium III will appear in April or May.?AMD, meanwhile, is telling PC makers to expect availability of 1GHz Athlon chips in 60 days.?AMD spokesman Drew Prairie would not comment on launch dates, except to say the plans are to have a 1GHz Athlon "by Q4 of this year." Before it ships its 1GHz Pentium III, Intel will crank out 850MHz and 866MHz Pentium IIIs, followed by a 933MHz Pentium III.?The 850MHz and 866MHz Pentium IIIs will likely be released in the next few weeks.?It's believed that the 850MHz chip will support only a 100MHz system bus -- the pipeline between the chip and chip set inside a PC.?The 866MHz version will support only a 133MHz bus.?More ...

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