Intel Corp. is preparing to release its first 2GHz mobile processor on June 24, sources said, but the chip wont come cheap.
The move also highlights Intels efforts to move up release of its Pentium 4-M products before the introduction of a new mobile chip, code-named Banias, in the first half of next year.
At the start of the year, Intels roadmaps plotted the 2GHz chips release for later in the year, but in April executives moved it to the third quarter. In recent weeks, Intel informed key partners that the chip will be launched June 24th.
Intels 2GHz Pentium 4-M chip will initially be offered at $637, a premium price thats more than 80 percent higher than the chipmakers current top mobile chip, a 1.8GHz Pentiuim 4-M, being sold for $348. Prices are based on 1,000-unit shipments.
Also on June 24th, Intel will release a 1.9GHz mobile Pentium, which will be slightly more affordable at an initial price of $400.
Major computer makers, including Dell Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., plan to feature the chips in new notebooks. But given the relative high cost of the chips, the notebooks wont come cheap either, each will be priced at more than $2,500.
Intel plans to release at least two faster mobile Pentium 4 chips–a 2.2GHz version later this year followed by a 2.4GHz product early next year–before introducing a whole new processor architecture in 2003, known as Banias.
Banias, designed by Intels labs in Israel, will be the first processor the chipmaker has designed for use as a mobile processor, although the cooler-running chip is now being considered for use in future high-density blade servers as well.
Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of the chip will be its ability to adjust the flow of power between components on the chip to conserve power. Intel contends the architecture will feature new low-power circuitry and design techniques that will enable the chip to deliver higher performance at lower power levels than current chips require.
Due to its more energy-efficient design, the chip will operate at cooler temperatures, reducing the need to use fans to prevent overheating. Such a design benefits users two ways: decreasing fan use increases battery life, and cooler chips require less heat dissipation components, or heat sinks, enabling them to fit in thinner and lighter PC designs.
Banias is expected to debut in the first half of next year at speeds of 1.4GHz to 1.6GHz, said Intel business partners, who asked that they not be named.
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