This article is more than 1 year old

P4 set to bust 2GHz barrier in Q2 next year

Lots of lovely confidential roadmap info leaks out

New Intel confidential roadmaps seen by The Register put more flesh on the bones of Chipzilla's plans for the first half of next year. And the chip behemoth's promise that the P4 ramp will be its most aggressive yet certainly seem to be borne out, assuming everything goes according to plan.

Desktops

Pentium 4 is shown at 2GHz or above in Q2 - somewhat earlier than anticipated. The flagchip will also reach 1.7GHz or more in Q1.

Interestingly, P4 is shown at both 1.5 and 1.7GHz or above in Q2, raising the possibility of a 1.6GHz part as well. The 1.4GHz part shuffles off this mortal coil remarkably early at the end of Q1 when the 1.7GHz part arrives.

In Q2, the roadmap shows the entry level mainstream 1 ($1.0K-$1.2K) equipped with a 933MHz PIII, along with the second coming of the ill-fated 1.13GHz part. In the value segment, Celeron is confirmed at 800MHz and 100MHz FSB (hooray!) in Q1 and 850MHz in Q2. At this time the entry level Value 1 segment (under $700), will come with a 733MHz Celeron.

Mobiles

In the high end >$3K mobile space, PIII reaches 850MHz in Q1 extending to 900MHz and 1GHz or above in Q2. The new i815EM chipset starts to make an impact in Q1, but the venerable BX sails merrily on into Q3 and beyond - is there no stopping this chipset?

Q2 should also see the debut of the 133MHz FSB Coppermine T mobiles at 866, 933 and 1GHz and the first Tualatin 0.13 micron process mobile with 512K of L2, clocking in at over 1GHz.

In the same quarter, mobile Celerons will hit 800MHz with the entry level ($1.0K - $1.2K) notebook powered by a 700MHz part.

Servers

Four way servers based on the ServerWorks chipset will jump from 700MHz PIII Xeon with 2Mb cache to 900MHz at the end of this year, while lowlier dual CPU servers move from 933MHz to 1GHz at the same time. Foster debuts at the end of Q1 at 2GHz and 256 on-die L2 cache, again using ServerWorks.

Volume and value segment servers move into 2001 using FC-PGA PIIIs at 933MHz and 1GHz, and possibly to 1.13GHz in Q2 should the dodgy part resurface in working guise. A Slot One 1GHz/100FSB part also survives on the roadmap until at least the end of Q1.

Chipsets

The biggest news on the chipset front is the sudden but unsurprising demise of the unloved Caminogate 820. Even in its new 'E' variant, it's due for the chop around Christmas, squished between the P4's 850 Tehama and the 815E which moves up into the mainstream 3 segment ($1.5K - $2.0K).

Lower down, the 810E and the 810E2 take care of business in the value segment, with the lovely old 440BX finally meeting its maker at the end of this year, as indeed does the suffix-free 810. ®

Related stories

Pentium 4 to ship bundled with Rambus
P4 launch now set for end of November
Fastest ever rollout? Intel bets jobs, ranch on Pentium 4
850 chipset delays Pentium 4 launch
Israel to make a million 1.7GHz P4s

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like