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Intel Intros Desktop Chip With HyperthreadingBy Mitch Wagner, TWN
While overpowered for present desktop applications, the moove postioned the company for the emerging need for PCs in the home with suffient processing power to act as home gateways, personal servers, or central home media servers, applidations already targeted by arch-rival Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
The new Intel Pentium 4 processor clocks at 3.06 GHz, the first commercial microprocessor to break the 3 billion cycles-per-second mark.
Hyperthreading improves the chip's ability to split work among several applications at the same time, or several different jobs in a single application. Intel said hyperthreading can boost PC performance up to 25 percent.
Hyperthreading can make a single processor appear to applications as two processors. However, applications need to be specially written to take advantage of hyperthreading, and few are.
Windows XP and Linux support hyperthreading, but earlier Windows versions, including Windows 2000, are not supported.
Hyperthreading is already built into Intel's Xeon processor for servers and workstations. Support will be noticeable to average users during times when PCs now freeze up momentarily while performing certain operations, said Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds.
“When you've got something that really grabs your computer and keeps it busy, hyperthreading allows other processes to carry on,” he said. “Employees will be somewhat more productive with this chip, and in some cases a lot more productive.” Hyperthreading and the speed will be especially useful for multimedia applications, encryption, and compression.
Still, demand for the new chip will be slowed because most machines today are overpowered for the work they're doing, although that's likely to change with new applications, Reynolds said.
Demand for new PCs is now flat, because of the slow economy, he said.
“Everybody is scared to spend money,” Reynolds said. But next year, the economy is likely to pick up.
“Companies will start hiring again, and new employees will need computers.” Market growth will return to at least high single-digits, he said.
Dell, Gateway, and Hewlett-Packard announced support for the chip. Dell will include the chip on its OptiPlex business desktops and Precision workstations. A typical OptiPlex, the SX260, priced at $1,854, includes the new processor, 256 Mbyte memory, 20 Gbyte hard disk drive, network adapter, CD-ROM, 15-inch flat panel monitor, Windows XP Professional, a three-year limited warranty, and next-business-day onsite service.
A Precision 350 workstation with 512 Mbytes of RAM, ATI Fire GL E1 graphics card, 80 Gbyte disk drive, 48X CD-RW drive, three years onsite next-business-day service, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, and a Dell UltraSharp 18-inch flat-panel monitor will be priced at $3,599.
Dell also plans to include the chip in consumer PCs, as does Gateway. Hewlett-Packard also said it plans to ship PCs based n the new chips, but details were unavailable.
The chip costs $637 in bulk quantities of 1,000 units, significantly more expensive than Intel's next-fastest desktop processor, the 2.8 GHz Pentium 4, which was recently reduced in price from $508 to $401.
Intel competitor Advanced Micro Devices is expected to release its Athlon XP 2700+ and 2800+ processors at the end of the month, and are roughly equivalent to the Pentium 4.
For more information, go to www.intel.com or www.amd.com.
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