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Intel rolls out 900MHz 4, 8-way PIII Xeon
Set to be replaced by P4-based chip in Q4, though
Intel shipped its 900MHz Pentium III Xeon server CPU, the last to be based on the 0.18 micron PIII core before the Xeon family switches over to the Pentium 4 core, at least in the high-end server biz.
The 900MHz part, like its 700MHz predecessor, ships with 2MB of on-die L2 cache, and is aimed at four- and eight-way multiprocessor servers. Unlike the previous chip, there's no 1MB on-die L2 option. Both parts support a 100MHz frontside bus.
Both parts are due to be replaced by Intel's P4-based Xeon, codenamed Foster, come Q4, which in addition to the P4 core will add 512KB and 1MB of on-die L3 cache to the chip and run at speeds of 1.6GHz and up.
Foster is set to be launched in May, initially targeting the uni-processor workstation market. It will ship at 1.7GHz, rising to 2GHz in Q3. It will make its appearance at the top end of the dual-CPU server and workstation arenas in Q3. Foster won't replace PIII-based Xeons in these markets for some time, thanks to the push the release of Tualatin - the 0.13 micron version of the PIII - will give the PIII Xeon line. Tualatin will allow the PIII Xeon to dominate the low-end of Chipzilla's dual-processor server line well into 2002.
The 900MHz PIII Xeon will be supported by chipsets from ServerWorks (four-way) and Intel (eight-way). The part costs $3692 in batches of 1000. ®
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