Intel nixes four-gigahertz microprocessor
By MATTHEW FORDAHL
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- In the latest change to its product lineup, Intel Corp. cancelled plans Thursday to release a four-gigahertz computer microprocessor, saying it would rely approaches besides faster clock speed to improve the performance of chips.
The world's largest semiconductor company had originally said it would release the fast Pentium 4 by the end of 2004 after touting its plan for months. Then in July, it pushed back the release to early next year.
The cancellation was not a complete surprise, given recent changes in Intel's strategy. At the same time, the chip industry has begun focusing on improving chip performance through other ways than speed.
Intel engineers are studying adding additional processing engines to a single chip and improving the efficiency in how the chips interact with the rest of the system.
"Those are the sort of things where you get more capability out of a processor by designing specific silicon solutions as opposed to just keep turning the clock faster," said Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman.
Intel still could produce a processor that runs at four gigahertz or faster, but it won't be part of the current Pentium 4 model, often referred to by its code name, Prescott.
In the meantime, the company plans to release a 3.8 GHz Pentium 4. Besides a small increase in the frequency, it will feature two megabytes of onboard "cache" memory -- double the amount on today's standard Pentium 4s. Currently, the fastest Pentium runs at 3.6 GHz.
The latest change in Intel's roadmap follows a string of adjustments and missteps by the Santa Clara-based company.
In May, it cancelled work on a successor chip to Prescott so that it could focus on more promising technologies. In June, a manufacturing glitch forced a small recall of chip sets, which handle communications between the processor and the rest of the system.
Then, in July, the company said design problems would delay the release of mobile computer chip set dubbed Alviso until next year. And it said better-than-expected performance in manufacturing of Pentium 4s resulted in an inventory buildup.
By MATTHEW FORDAHL
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- In the latest change to its product lineup, Intel Corp. cancelled plans Thursday to release a four-gigahertz computer microprocessor, saying it would rely approaches besides faster clock speed to improve the performance of chips.
The world's largest semiconductor company had originally said it would release the fast Pentium 4 by the end of 2004 after touting its plan for months. Then in July, it pushed back the release to early next year.
The cancellation was not a complete surprise, given recent changes in Intel's strategy. At the same time, the chip industry has begun focusing on improving chip performance through other ways than speed.
Intel engineers are studying adding additional processing engines to a single chip and improving the efficiency in how the chips interact with the rest of the system.
"Those are the sort of things where you get more capability out of a processor by designing specific silicon solutions as opposed to just keep turning the clock faster," said Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman.
Intel still could produce a processor that runs at four gigahertz or faster, but it won't be part of the current Pentium 4 model, often referred to by its code name, Prescott.
In the meantime, the company plans to release a 3.8 GHz Pentium 4. Besides a small increase in the frequency, it will feature two megabytes of onboard "cache" memory -- double the amount on today's standard Pentium 4s. Currently, the fastest Pentium runs at 3.6 GHz.
The latest change in Intel's roadmap follows a string of adjustments and missteps by the Santa Clara-based company.
In May, it cancelled work on a successor chip to Prescott so that it could focus on more promising technologies. In June, a manufacturing glitch forced a small recall of chip sets, which handle communications between the processor and the rest of the system.
Then, in July, the company said design problems would delay the release of mobile computer chip set dubbed Alviso until next year. And it said better-than-expected performance in manufacturing of Pentium 4s resulted in an inventory buildup.
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