| Updated February 27, 1998 |
|
By Alexander Wolfe
February 27, 1998
EE Times
|
Intel Corp. has quietly added two new
instructions to its Pentium II, in a bid to boost the
processor's performance in complex applications including
multimedia software. The instructions came to light in
a Web posting by Clive Turvey, an independent software
expert, who said he uncovered them while reading a
recently released application note from Intel.
"With the introduction of the Deschutes
processor, Intel [has] added two new instructions: the
FXSAVE and FXRSTOR instructions for a fast save and
restore of the floating-point coprocessor's
context," Turvey noted in his posting.
|
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Jim Forbes
March 1, 1998
Windows Internet Magazine
|
To keep track of Intel's technology code
names, head for Oregon and other portions of the Pacific
Northwest coast. There, you'll find several Intel
offices, along with rivers and other area landmarks with
names like Auburn, Portola, Deschutes, Katmai and Merced.
By no coincidence, these landmarks also serve as code
names for forthcoming Intel processors. |
|
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By Mike Ricciuti
February 27, 1998
C/Net
|
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) said today
that it has entered an agreement to have IBM (IBM)
manufacture its Intel-compatible microprocessors in a
deal that may help AMD make more processors as it
struggles to solve lingering manufacturing problems. AMD
said it has signed a two-year foundry agreement with IBM
that will augment production of AMD's K6 processor. AMD
said wafer starts are expected to begin at IBM in the
third quarter.
|
|
|
Staff Writer
February 27, 1998
Semiconductor Buyer's News
|
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. here today
announced a two-year foundry agreement with the IBM
Corp., which will add additional production capacity for
AMD's K6 microprocessor. The Sunnyvale chip maker said
the agreement will somewhat augment its capacity from Fab
25 in Austin, Tex., which has been attempting to ramp up
production of the 32-bit microprocessor. AMD said IBM
will begin processing wafers for its devices beginning in
the third quarter 1998.
|
|
| Updated February 26, 1998 |
|
By Sandy Chen
February 26, 1998
Electronic Buyer's News
|
Two PC chipset vendors, Acer
Laboratories Inc. (ALI) and Via Technologies Inc., have
announced in Taipei their initial products that support
Intel Corp.'s current and future Pentium II processors. Via,
Fremont, Calif., on March 2 plans to officially roll out
a family of chipsets designed for use in Pentium II-based
desktops, as well as the yet-to-be-announced mobile
version of Intel's Pentium II processor.
For Pentium II-based notebooks, Via offers a two-chip
solution. The first chip, called the Apollo Pro, is a
controller. The second chip, called the "Mobile
South," provides the I/O functions.
|
|
|
February 25, 1998
Bootwire
|
Via Technologies has announced a pair of
chipsets, one for the mobile Pentium II processor that
Intel won’t officially announce until April. The
100MHz Apollo Pro is a 472-pin BGA part that acts as the
north-bridge component in Intel’s two-part core
logic scheme.
While Intel plans to ship the mobile P-II processor
with a full working chipset, Via's Pro model will support
AGP and SDRAM, but will opt for Double-Date Rate (DDR)
DRAMs instead of Intel’s flava of choice: Rambus
technology.
|
|
Via Technologies
|
We did it for AGP and now we're doing it
again, this time for the 100MHz system bus for Socket 7.
On Monday February 23, in Taipei, and Thursday February
26, in Tokyo, VIA is bringing together speakers from
leading Socket 7 vendors AMD, Cyrix, and IBM, for
discussions on the next generation bus speed, product
plans, and how it all fits into the big picture. |
|
|
By Peter Clarke and Rick Boyd-Merritt
February 25, 1998
EE Times
|
Intel Corp.'s desire to be a bigger
player in the market for silicon for handheld devices was
made clear early this week when it announced a licensing
agreement with Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. (ARM) to make,
sell and enhance the StrongARM microprocessors. Intel
also gains rights to companion core-logic chips that have
been quietly in development. But as it operates under
the shadow of a Federal Trade Commission review of its
deal with Digital Equipment Corp., Intel will confront a
handful of unresolved design issues as it turns its
attention to StrongARM. Just how the CPU giant will
leverage its latest assets remains to be seen.
|
Related
Stories Intel to run with StrongARM
Intel to license StrongARM RISC once it acquires
DEC's chip unit
Intel to buy DEC' chip unit in settlement of
patent suits
|
|
By Robert Lemos
February 23, 1998
ZDNN
|
After closing its latest deal, Intel
Corp. has immeasurably improved its chance to making sure
its products wind up on television sets, homes, cars --
and even in your pocket, according to analysts. "Intel's
slogan for the next century is going to be Intel inside
everything," said Jae Kim, associate analyst for new
media consultants, Paul Kagan Associates.
|
Related
Stories Intel, Advanced RISC reach StrongARM agreement
Intel's ace in a hole -- the rights to StrongARM
|
|
By Kelly Spang
February 25, 2998
Computer Reseller News
|
In its efforts to modify the Pentium II
for the sub-$1,000 PC, Intel Corp. will offer VARs a
product where performance typically is not better than
its top-of-the-line Pentium with MMX desktop CPU. Described
as a "stop-gap measure," this modified version
of the Pentium II, code-named Covington, will be a
Pentium II 266MHz without any Level 2 (L2) cache, a
hardware modification that may result in integer
performance below that of a Pentium with MMX 233MHz, said
Michael Slater, principal analyst for MicroDesign
Resources, an industry research firm based in Sebastopol,
Calif.
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|
I got some of the latest info on Intel's
plans for the (near) future. First I'll give you the CPU
Roadmap as it will most probably be for 1998, and below
there's official KATMAI (MMX2) info. Please note that all
chips in the CPU Roadmap are still using MMX 1 and not
Katmai. Katmai is to be expected early 1999..... Note
that the CPU info is provided "as is" and that,
even though compiled with most possible care, there can
always be changes... |
|
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|
Katmai is the long-awaited successor of
the MMX instruction set. Long awaited by some, but also
questioned by others. MMX, the multimedia processor
extensions were introduced in 1996 by Intel with their
Pentium MMX processor (P55C). However since the release
of MMX processors one thing seems to have been forgotten:
Software that takes advantage of the MMX instructions.
Until today the only programs supporting MMX are a few
games and some graphics programs. MMX might be more
useful by the time Win96 arrives, since that OS will take
advantage of these instructions.... But Intel thinks
different, and by the time MMX will probably be widely
supported (end of the year) Intel will be due to add
another 70 new instructions to they processors. these new
instructions can be seen as an extension to MMX and the
codename for the project is KATMAI.... check out the
following info & pics: |
|
| Updated February 25, 1998 |
|
By Clive Turvey
February 24, 1998
|
With the introduction of the Deschutes
processor (333MHz at this time), Intel also added two new
instructions which are mentioned in passing in the
Application Note AP-485 CPUID January 1998. Download this
Acrobat File from Intel To determine if your processor
supports these new instructions you have to use the CPUID
instruction with EAX=1 to get the "Feature
Flags" returned in EDX. Bit 24 is called FXSR
"Fast floating point save and restore".
|
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By Kelly Spang
February 24, 1998
Computer Reseller News
|
The x86-based processor, the heart of
the volume desktop market, will be phased out by Intel in
favor of its new 64-bit architecture, according to an
industry analyst. While Intel has two new processor
families on its road map continuing the x86 instruction
set, around the year 2002 VARs could see limited
introductions of Intel products based on the IA-64
architecture targeting the high-end PC, according to
Linley Gwennap, editor in chief and publisher of
Microprocessor Report based in Sunnyvale, Calif.
|
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By Jim Davis
February 24, 1998
C/Net
|
Researchers at the University of Texas
have developed a new chipmaking technology that will help
the semiconductor industry continue to produce
exponentially more powerful processors while keeping
manufacturing costs in check. Working with DuPont
Photomasks (DPMI), researchers have produced a
semiconductor wafer with components that are a mere 0.08
microns wide. By contrast, cutting-edge chip production
processes today use a comparatively fat 0.25-micron
technology to make chips such as the newest Pentium II
processors. Next-generation technology will only go as
small as 0.18 micron.
|
|
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By Michael Kanellos
February 24, 1998
C/Net
|
A group of server computer vendors,
including Compaq and Unisys, has agreed to invest
millions into an effort to port UnixWare, the Unix
variant from Santa Cruz Organization (SCO), to Intel's
upcoming 64-bit Merced chip. The agreement represents
a quantum leap for SCO, whose UnixWare is almost
exclusively used by small to medium-sized businesses.
Under the alliance effort, SCO's Unix will become,
ideally, an high-end corporate
"enterprise-class" operating system that will
be compatible with a much-anticipated Intel chip
technology.
|
|
| Updated February 24, 1998 |
|
By Alexander Wolfe
February 23, 1998
EE Times
|
When it comes to Merced, despite the
engineering community's clamor for more information,
Intel has imposed a virtual news blackout. Last
October, Intel provided a rough--very rough-- outline of
the architecture at the Microprocessor Forum. Company
executives also said that Merced is scheduled to ship in
1999 and that it will be fabricated in a 0.18-micron CMOS
process.
No additional details emerged until last week, when
Intel briefed EE Times and revealed that Merced will use
a new system bus, using concepts from the Pentium II bus.
|
Related
Stories Curtain lifted slightly on Merced processor
New 64-Bit Processor Will Extend the Intel
Architecture
Motivations and Design Approach for the IA-64
64-Bit Instruction Set Architecture
HP's Breakout Strategy
|
|
By John Dodge
February 23, 1998
ZD-Net
|
In April 1987, on the eve of OS/2's
introduction, my editor came to me and said, "What
if it fails?" I thought, no way. IBM's Micro Channel
and OS/2 will simply pick up where the ISA/EISA PC bus
standard and DOS leave off. It took years, but both
eventually bombed. When I hear Intel's IA-64
architecture, the successor to Pentium and HP's PA-RISC,
referred to as the de facto standard for Unix and NT, I
hark back to the lessons of computer history. It's not
safe to assume that Intel will enjoy the same domination
with IA-64 that it has with Pentium and the X86
generations that came before it.
|
|
|
By Jim Davis
February 23, 1998
C/Net
|
Hewlett-Packard (HWP) is trying to take
customers into the new millennium and to Intel's new
64-bit chip architecture by offering a kit that
could speed adoption of the next-generation Merced chip. HP
is offering a "transition" kit against a
backdrop of ongoing joint development work with Intel on
the 64-bit Merced chip, due in 1999. Its introduction is
expected to accelerate Intel's penetration of the
high-end--or so-called enterprise--corporate computer
market, currently populated by Unix systems based on
processors such as HP's PA-RISC.
|
|
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By Andy Patrizio
February 23, 1998
TechWeb
|
Intel has confirmed that it plans to
introduce 233-megahertz and 266-MHz Pentium II chips for
laptops in the second quarter, with a 300-MHz processor
due by the end of the year. According to an industry
analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity, Intel will
release the mobile chips on April 2. The same source said
Compaq plans to introduce Armada laptops with the more
powerful Pentium IIs, which will sell for between $6,000
and $7,000, the same day.
|
|
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By Sandy Chen
February 23, 1998
Semiconductor Business News
|
Intel's processor rivals in Taiwan gave
a sneak preview Monday of their future products for the
exploding, low-cost PC market. Cyrix Corp. briefly
discussed its next-generation, MediaGX microprocessor,
dubbed the MXi, which will be announced in the fourth
quarter of 1998. Designed for sub-$1,000 PCs, the MXi
will be bundled with 3-D or multimedia extensions,
according to Bruce Date, Cyrix' director of engineering,
at a seminar hosted by chip-set supplier Via Technologies
Inc. here today.
|
|
|
By Skinny DuBaud
February 23, 1998
C/Net
|
There was lots of grumbling to be heard
at the Intel Developers' Conference last week, where
guests were subjected to Yes and Emerson, Lake, and
Palmer. Quel horreur! This retrograde lapse in musical
taste could only have helped foment revolutionary
sentiments in the increasingly
nervous graphics chip sector. Under the din, much
cocktail banter could be heard trying to drum up
testimonial contributions for the FTC's multiple
antitrust investigations. But
if S3 wants to get serious about evidence gathering, it
should hire a professional. Maybe they can get Kenneth
Starr to do some moonlighting.
|
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By Michael Kanellos and Kurt Oeler
February 23, 1998
C/Net
|
Intel (INTC) announced today that it has
reached an agreement with Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) to
produce StrongARM microprocessors used in handheld
devices and other low-cost appliances, allowing the
world's largest chip maker to compete in a potentially
huge market outside of the PC sphere. The deal, which
is still subject to approval by the Federal Trade
Commission, would give Intel an overnight presence in a
growing market that it has yet to crack. The StrongARM
processor can be used in a variety of inexpensive
computing devices, including cell phones, modems,
consumer game machines, and Network Computers.
|
|
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By Lisa DiCarlo
February 23, 1998
PC Week Online
|
Intel Corp. today announced it has
reached an agreement with Advanced RISC Machines Inc. for
the rights to build, sell and enhance ARM's StrongARM
processor. Doing so clears a hurdle for Intel's (INTC)
proposed deal with Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) , which
has already announced plans to sell its semiconductor
business to the microprocessor giant. Digital and ARM
jointly developed and hold the rights to StrongARM,
designed to be the heart of handheld computers and
set-top boxes.
|
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By Charles Cooper
February 28, 1998
ZD-Net
|
Intel, looking to add another ace to its
deck, has licensed a chip that provides more oomph for
its price than anything else in the company's
microprocessor lineup. The license deal with Advanced
Risc Machines gives Intel the right to produce, sell, and
enhance the StrongARM microprocessor family, which is
designed to be the heart of handheld computers and
set-top boxes.
|
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Staff Writer
February 23, 1998
Semiconductor Business News
|
Intel Corp. here today announced an
agreement with U.K.-based Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.
(ARM) to license the StrongARM RISC processor core for
use in products. Intel's agreement is linked to its
pending acquisition of Digital Equipment Corp.'s chip
business, which has been offering StrongARM-based IC. Under
its licensing pact with ARM, Intel will have the right to
produce, sell and enhance StrongARM microprocessors. The
pact also includes a cross licensing agreement between
ARM of Cambridge U.K. and Intel. A final agreement is
contingent upon U.S. approval of Intel's proposed $700
million purchase of DEC's semiconductor division (see Oct.
27 story).
|
Related
Stories Intel to buy DEC' chip unit in settlement of
patent suits
|
|
By Peter Clarke
February 23, 1998
EE Times
|
Under an architectural license signed
with Advanced RISC Machines Ltd., here, Intel Corp. has
decided to manufacture, sell and develop the StrongARM
32-bit RISC microprocessor architecture originally
developed by Digital Equipment Corp. The deal includes
the Digital SA-110, SA-1100 and SA-1500 processors, as
well as companion chips now being designed by Advanced
RISC Machines (ARM), such as the SA-1101 and SA-1501. The
microprocessors offer clock speeds of up to 200 MHz and
performance in excess of 200 Dhrystone Mips while
consuming less than 250 mW of power. They have already
been designed into a number of handheld devices and
Internet appliances.
|
|
|
By Patrick Waurzyniak
February 23, 1998
Electronic Buyer's News
|
Intel Corp. and Advanced RISC Machines
(ARM) on Monday said the companies had reached an
agreement under which Intel would produce, sell and
enhance the StrongARM microprocessor line under license
from U.K.-based ARM. Under the agreement, the
companies also will cross-license technology between the
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel and ARM, Cambridge,
England. The deal gives Intel an entry into the low-cost,
high-performance market with ARM's RISC processors, which
are featured in handheld personal communicator-class
devices such as Apple Computer's MessagePad 2000
computer.
|
|
| Updated February 23, 1998 |
|
By Alexander Wolfe
February 23, 1998
EE Times
|
Intel Corp. is telling systems OEMs to
expect first samples of its 64-bit Merced microprocessor
in the second half of this year, EE Times has learned.
Separately, Hewlett-Packard Co. is developing a
proprietary core-logic chip set for Merced that will
support up to 32-way multiprocessing, company executives
said. HP will use the chip set as a key enabling
technology for its own line of high-end, high-performance
servers built around Merced. The company hasn't decided
whether to offer the chip set on the merchant market. Word
of the dual Merced moves comes amid a renewed round of
speculation over when Merced will appear. Intel has
consistently stated that Merced, which is the first
implementation of the company's highly parallel IA-64
architecture, will ship in 1999 and that it will be
fabricated in a 0.18-micron process. An Intel official
said last week that first silicon should be ready late
this year or early next year. An Intel spokeswoman said
the company remains "on track with production
scheduled for the second half of 1999."
|
|
|
By Ron Wilson and Anthony Cataldo
February 20, 1998
EE Times
|
Intel Corp. architects revealed a bit
more of the IA-64 architecture and its Merced
implementation at the Intel Developer Forum earlier this
week. In addition to more detailed descriptions of how
the highly speculative EPIC (Explicitly Parallel
Instruction Computing) scheme works, the company
discussed some of the chip- and board-level aspects of
the project. The first Merced will be a cartridge-style
module, including a CPU fabricated in 0.18-micron CMOS,
L2 cache and bus interface but not control logic, said
Merced director of marketing Ronald Curry. The cartridge
will employ a newly defined system bus, using concepts
from the Pentium-II bus with adaptations to Merced's
unique interrupt and multiprocessing protocols. As Merced
is targeted at servers with moderate to large numbers of
processors, Intel has developed a coherency protocol
scalable to large multiprocessing systems without radical
changes in coherency architecture. This necessitated
adding bus resources.
|
|
Merced
makes early advances
First software development kits ship
as Intel, OEMs begin design reviews
By Lisa DiCarlo
February 23, 1998
PC Week Online
|
Merced is more than a year down the
road, but Intel Corp. and its partners are ramping up
their preparations for the 64-bit processor's arrival. Two
important preparations leading to the completion of the
prototype system are the delivery of SDKs (software
development kits) and system design reviews between OEMs
and Intel. Both those efforts will begin in earnest this
quarter, said Intel officials at the company's Developers
Forum here last week.
|
|
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By Mark LaPedus
February 20, 1998
Electronic Buyer's News
|
Taiwan's Mitac International Corp. has
become what is believed to be the world's first company
to roll out a notebook PC based on an unannounced mobile
version of Intel Corp.'s Pentium II processor. At the
CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany -- which runs from
March 19-25 -- Mitac will show its so-called 6031, a
notebook PC line that will initially run a 233-MHz
version of Intel's mobile Pentium II chip, according to a
product release sent out by the Taipei-based company.
Other notebook PC makers are expected to show similar
high-end products at CeBIT.
|
|
|
By John G. Spooner
February 20, 1998
PC Week Online
|
Intel Corp.'s mobile Pentium II
processor will be the next big boost for notebook PCs.
But pricing, service and support - not technology - are
the factors now driving IT managers' buying decisions. Several
notebook makers are expected to announce Pentium II-based
notebooks on or within a month of Intel's April launch of
the new 233MHz and 266MHz mobile processors.
Announcements will include the following:
|
|
|
Staff Writer
February 23, 1998
LAN Times
|
Servers featuring Intel Corp.'s latest
Pentium II processor are rolling out quickly, despite the
imminent release of the chip's next generation. IBM,
Hewlett-Packard Co., and Gateway 2000 Inc.'s Advanced
Logic Research subsidiary are getting ready to ship new
workgroup servers with the just-released 333MHz Pentium
II.
The 333MHz PII, like its predecessors, is limited to a
two-way chip set; 350MHz and 400MHz versions are due
midyear in a four-way chip set.
|
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By Kelly Spang
February 19, 1998
Computer Reseller News
|
As Intel Corp. prepares to launch its
low-cost Pentium II in April, VARs will find flexibility
in the design to enable several configurations, said
company officials. Configurations will be limited
through the accompanying chipset, a low cost version of
the 440LX, which will only support one processor, two
DIMM sockets and three PCI slots.
However, through a "universal retention
mechanism" which holds the processor in place, VARs
can initially design a system based on Covington, a 266
MHz Pentium II without any Level 2 cache, and then
upgrade to a full version of the Slot 1 Pentium II using
the same system, according to John Hyde, an engineer for
Platform Architecture in Intel's Desktop Products Group,
speaking at the Intel Developers Forum.
|
|
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By Kelly Spang
February 19, 1998
Computer Reseller News
|
While initial speeds of Intel Corp.'s
Merced processor are expected to blow away anything the
company is offering today, a key benefit of the
architecture will come from more effective use of the
processor clock, according to company officials. In a
presentation Thursday at the Intel Developer Forum,
Carole Dulong, principal engineer working on development
of the IA-64 architecture, discussed elements of Intel's
development which will enable high-performance, highly
scalable processors. Merced will be the first processor
in a family of 64-bit products.
|
|
| Updated February 20, 1998 |
|
By Michael Kanellos and Brooke Crothers
February 19, 1998
C/Net
|
Intel (INTC) could be a target for
action by the Federal Trade Commission, despite
statements by executives that the chip giant will emerge
from a preliminary investigation unscathed. FTC action
first came to light when Intel was served with a subpoena
in late September last year. At that time, the federal
agency said it would look into whether Intel "has
engaged, or is engaging, in unfair or deceptive
practices...by acting to monopolize or otherwise restrict
price or non-price competition in the development or sale
of microprocessors or other components or intellectual
property."
|
Related
Stories Intel confident about FTC inquiry
FTC investigating Intel
FTC probes Chips, Intel deal
Intel Buyout Of Chips And Technologies Almost
Final
|
|
By Reuters
February 19, 1998
C/Net
|
Intel (INTC) president and chief
operating officer Craig Barrett said he is "very
confident" the ongoing U.S. government investigation
into Intel's business practices will end up with no
action taken against the chip giant. In late September,
Intel said it was being investigated by the Federal Trade
Commission for anti-competitive business practices.
|
Related
Stories Intel still possible FTC target
FTC investigating Intel
FTC probes Chips, Intel deal
Intel Buyout Of Chips And Technologies Almost
Final
|
|
By Anthony Cataldo
February 19, 1998
EE Times
|
Intel Corp.'s plan to maintain hegemony
in high-end desktop platforms while extending its reach
into low-end PCs came into sharper focus this week at the
Intel Developer Forum, where the company unveiled a
far-reaching plan to prepare the hardware and software
community for its next-generation IA-32 Katmai processor
next year and provided more detail about its low-end
Covington platform. The Katmai platform marks a
monumental effort that will involve the convergence of
new chip sets, DRAM technology, a graphics bus, MMX
instruction set, graphics components and perhaps a faster
system bus. At the same time, Intel has stepped up
efforts to ensure a base of software tools and
applications that will take advantage of the revamped
graphics subystem.
|
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By Michael Kanellos
February 19, 1998
C/Net
|
Upcoming sub-$1,000 computers will
incorporate modems, DVD playback, and improved audio and
3D graphics into systems with fewer internal parts and a
far smaller "footprint" than their
predecessors. More for less was the underlying message
today when Intel outlined the specifications of the
"Basic PC" at the Intel Developer Forum.
|
|
|
By Nicolas Mokhoff
February 19, 1998
CMP Net
|
Intel Corp. announced this week an
industry initiative for specifying a server-system
infrastructure (SSI) for three classes of servers
addressed by its Enterprise Server Group. The goal is to
standardize system elements that are generally designed
over and over again yet add little value or market
differentiation to servers, said Paul Prince, platform
architecture manager for Intel (Santa Clara, Calif.). The
initiative, set forth at the second annual Intel
Developer Forum, was essentially launched to define the
volumetric and interface specifications for two types of
chassis--the power supply and the electronics bay. Intel
wants OEMs and industry suppliers to standardize the
classification of servers as entry (with two P6
processors and four to five I/O slots), midrange (with
dual or quad P6 processors and seven to 10 I/O slots) and
high-end (with four to eight Merced-type processors and
four server I/O slots).
|
|
|
By Ron Wilson
February 19, 1998
EE Times
|
Albert Yu, senior vice president and
general manager at Intel Corp. said on Wednesday that
Intel's IA32 microprocessor architecture still had a long
future and a lot of performance headroom. Yu, who
manages architectural development at the microprocessor
giant, said both small changes to the IA32 instruction
set and major changes to CPU microarchitecture still lay
ahead for the venerable X86 line. Moreover, Yu said he
did not foresee a time when the IA32 architecture would
not exist side-by-side with Intel's new IA64
architecture.
|
|
|
By Anthony Cataldo
February 18, 1998
EE Times
|
Surging sales of low-cost PCs coupled
with the financial hardships of Asian memory suppliers
has extended the life of 16-Mbit DRAMs and will slow the
transition to Direct Rambus DRAMs, according to officials
at Intel Corp. and to memory suppliers at the Intel
Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif. on Tuesday. Micron
Technology Inc. and Toshiba Corp. will likely shrink
their current 16-Mbit SDRAMs to reduce die size and boost
yields, even as the industry ramps up production of
64-Mbit devices. Micron, one of the few companies to move
its 16-Mbit production to an 0.25-micron process last
year, will probably shrink its 16-Mbit synhcronous design
again to reduce manufacturing costs, said Kevin Ryan,
strategic applications engineer for DRAM products at
Micron Semiconductor Products Inc. (Boise, Idaho).
|
|
|
By Larry Dignan
February 19, 1998
TechInvestor
|
Dell and Intel teamed up to push
technology issues higher Thursday even though the Dow
Jones Industrial Average stumbled. After six straight
record closes, the Dow slumped 75.48 to 8375.58 as
investors cashed in gains. The technology-heavy Nasdaq
closed up 11.28 to 1727.01.
Intel [INTC] was up 3 5/8 to 90 9/16 after BT Alex
Brown upgraded the company to strong buy from market
perform.
|
|
| Updated February 19, 1998 |
|
By Michael Slater
February 16, 1998
Microprocessor Report
|
Although the personal-computer industry
has been spectacularly successful at delivering computers
at very low prices by the tens of millions, it has been
much less successful at delivering innovative,
easy-to-use systems. In some ways the technology moves
amazingly quickly, but in terms of real platform
evolution, it is agonizingly slow. Years ago, for
example, Intel and Microsoft began promoting the concept
of PCs that would start up nearly instantly, without any
cryptic messages flashing by on the screen. Since then,
high-end processors have moved from 166-MHz Pentiums to
333-MHz Pentium IIs, but these simple usability
enhancements are still absent in most PCs.
|
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
February 18, 1998
C/Net
|
As part of a presentation today on
future chips, Intel (INTC) said it will continue to put
more features, including 3D graphics and audio, into the
processor and supporting chips as part of its effort to
become more competitive in the low-cost market. Albert
Yu, general manager of Intel's Microprocessor Product
Group, also spelled out the road map for future chips
appearing in high-performance PCs, workstations, servers,
and notebook PCs.
|
|
|
By Lisa DiCarlo
February 18, 1998
PC Week Online
|
Intel Corp. used the first day of its
Developer's Conference here to hammer home its Pentium II
"segmentation" message and to implore hardware
and software developers to build manageable systems. In
his keynote address, Intel Chairman and CEO Andrew Grove
built on the segmentation message first disclosed late
last year, which calls for Intel to develop Pentium II
processors, chip sets and motherboards for specific
segments of computing. Those categories include
portables, sub-$1,000 PCs, mainstream business and
consumer-oriented PCs, workstations, and high-volume and
enterprise servers.
|
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
February 18, 1998
C/Net
|
Intel (INTC) is taking a sharp turn
toward the development of low-cost PC technology. At a
developer's conference this week, the chip giant touted a
stripped-down version of the Pentium II, code-named
Covington, that targets the sub-$1,000 market. Analysts
say it will be a stop-gap product until the arrival of
low-cost chips that integrate features like 3D graphics
and audio. The company (an investor in CNET: The Computer
Network) also revealed it will market chips for low-end
computers under a new, separate brand name, even as it
develops another brand of chips targeted at more powerful
computers. |
Related
Stories Intel tilts to system-on-a-chip
Low-cost Pentium II called "kludgey"
Grove turns Intel toward low-cost PCs
|
|
By Kristen Kenedy
February 18, 1998
Computer Reseller News
|
Intel is developing additional MMX
instruction sets to speed up 3-D processing, Albert Yu,
senior vice president of the company's microprocessor
group acknowledged today. The new chip, code-named
Kesmai, will ship in 1999, Yu said in his keynote speech
at Intel's Developer's Forum here. Microsoft and many
game developers, including id Software, will support the
instruction sets, he said. The launch of Kesmai will be
preceded by AMD and Cyrix which have announced their
plans to ship a CPU that enhances 3-D processing in the
first half of 1998.
|
|
|
By Kelly Spang
February 18, 1998
Computer Reseller News
|
Segmentation of the computing market
from the sub-$1,000 PC up to high-end servers has been a
central theme at the Intel Developer Forum held in San
Jose. "The most exciting part is that the
emergence of the high end as well as the low end is where
the major opportunities are," said Albert Yu, senior
vice president and general manager of the microprocessor
product group at Intel. "As a result, we have
developed our strategy to supply products to all
segments of the market."
|
|
|
By J. Robert Lineback
February 18, 1998
Semiconductor Business News
|
Intel Corp. here today announced it has
begun construction on its first 300-mm wafer fab, which
will cost about $1.5 billion and become operational in
the year 2000. The 300-mm (12-inch) wafer production
facility will first be used to develop 0.13-micron
process technology for next-generation microprocessors,
and eventually, it will be converted into a high-volume
production facility. A spokesman for Intel in Hillsboro
estimated that the fab would be converted to volume
production about two years after it begins the
development work.
|
|
|
By Patrick Waurzyniak
February 18, 1998
Electronic Buyers' News
|
Intel said Wednesday it had begun
construction on a $1.5 billion, 300-millimeter wafer
fabrication facility in which the Santa Clara,
Calif.-based chip giant plans to manufacture advanced
semiconductors. Intel said the Hillsboro, Ore.-based
wafer fabrication plant will be its first to develop and
manufacture complex computer chips on 12-inch silicon
wafers. The Intel plant, which is part of a multiphase
site development known as Ronler Acres, will feature a
120,000-sq. ft. "Class 1" clean room.
|
|
|
By Kurt Oeler
February 18, 1998
C/Net
|
Chipmaking giant Intel (INTC) said it
has begun building an Oregon plant that will develop a
future-generation manufacturing process and then likely
produce the much-improved follow-up version of Intel's
64-bit Merced microprocessor. Intel's second
research-and-development plant at its Ronler Acres campus
in Hillsboro, Oregon, will refine the 0.13 micron
manufacturing process for chips to be produced on 12-inch
silicon wafers. Currently, Intel's most advanced chips
are manufactured according to the 0.25 micron process on
8-inch wafers.
|
Related
Stories Intel plant delay may signal trouble
|
| Updated February 18, 1998 |
|
By Kelly Spang
February 17, 1998
Computer Reseller News
|
Proclaiming the sub-$1,000 PC market a
major thrust, Intel CEO Andy Grove gave hardware
developers the first glimpse of the company's low-end
Pentium II. Speaking at the Intel Developers Forum in
San Jose, Calif., Grove demonstrated the Covington
processor running a 3-D adventure game. Covington is the
code name for a Pentium II 266-MHz processor without any
level 2 cache. Intel is moving full steam ahead to
address the sub-$1,000 PC market, which Grove termed as a
"major thrust for Intel over the course of the last
year."
|
Related
Stories Low-cost Pentium II called "kludgey"
Intel Prepares CPUs For Sub-$1,000 PC
Intel to make 16 kinds of Pentium II
Intel gets serious about low-cost chips
|
|
Staff Writer
February 17, 1998
Semiconductor Business News
|
Speaking before a systems developers
conference here today, Intel Corp. chairman Andrew S.
Grove said his company is aiming to create a common
computing foundation which would address new computers
designed for a range of specific market segments. As part
of that push, he said Intel is finishing development of a
new processor, code-named "Covington," which
will serve entry-level computing segments. The
Covington processor will be given a new brand name by
Intel, and it will begin shipping to customers in the
middle of 1998, Grove promised. The processor will
utilize the P6 microarchitecture--the same as the Pentium
II--and Grove said it will bring the highest level of
price/performance to the entry-level computing segment.
|
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
February 17, 1998
C/Net
|
While "Covington" will be the
first processor from Intel specifically designed for
low-cost PCs, don't expect it to be around long. Analysts
seem to agree that Covington, a stripped-down Pentium II
processor, is an interim measure until Intel can deliver
a chip that is specifically tailored to the
price-performance parameters of the sub-$1,000 market.
"You could say it's kind of a 'kludge'
project," said Linley Gwennap, editor-in-chief of
The Microprocessor Report. "A Covington chip will
have lower performance than an equivalent Pentium II
running at the same clock speed."
|
Related
Stories Intel Prepares CPUs For Sub-$1,000 PC
Intel to make 16 kinds of Pentium II
Intel gets serious about low-cost chips
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
February 17, 1998
C/Net
|
Highlighting a dramatic shift at Intel,
chief executive officer Andy Grove said today that Intel
is taking a sharp turn toward the development of low-cost
PC technology and will market its chips for low-end
computers under a new, separate brand name, while it also
develops another brand of chips targeted at more powerful
computers. Grove was very clear about the sea change
at Intel. "We now have 650 engineers working on
[low-cost PC technology]. A year ago that was zero."
|
|
|
By Lisa DiCarlo
February 16, 1998
PC Week Online
|
Driven together by their mutual
domination of the PC market, the dynamic duo of Intel
Corp. and Microsoft Corp. are traveling down increasingly
different paths to enterprise computing. That
divergence, caused largely by the move to 64-bit
computing, will forever alter the Wintel landscape.
At its second Developer's Conference in San Jose,
Calif., this week, Intel will offer new details on its
64-bit processor, code-named Merced. With this new IA
(Intel Architecture), scheduled to ship in 1999, Intel is
fanning out its development activities well beyond
Microsoft, hoping to commoditize and standardize several
Unix variants.
|
Related
Stories Microsoft, Digital inch closer
64-bit NT on the horizon
Aaron Goldberg: Merced looms, but not large
PC Week Editorial: All roads lead to Merced
Intel turns spotlight on 64-bit architecture
|
|
By Patrick Waurzyniak
February 18, 1998
Electronic Buyers' News
|
Rambus announced Tuesday the completion
of its Direct RDRAM interface design, which has garnered
support from 13 semiconductor licensees as well as from
interconnect industry leaders AMP and Molex. Rambus
said the Mountain View, Calif., company has distributed
simultaneously its implementation packages for the
interface design to all 13 Direct RDRAM partners. Rambus'
Direct RDRAM licensees include Fujitsu, Hitachi, Hyundai
Electronics Industry, IBM Microelectronics, LG
Semiconductor, Micron Technology, Mitsubishi Electric,
NEC, Oki Electric Industry, Samsung Electronics, Siemens
AG, and Toshiba.
|
Related
Stories Rambus finishes new DRAM interface
Intel to detail the SDRAM detour on its Rambus
route
Shift in Intel's Road Map Hints at Rambus
Setback
|
|
By Patrick Waurzyniak
February 18, 1998
Electronic Buyers' News
|
Rambus Inc. here said it has finished
its Direct Rambus DRAM interface design and it has
distributed implementation packages to 13 chip companies
and two connector suppliers licensing the DRDRAM
technology. Rambus predicted that the most aggressive
Direct RDRAM partners could have first silicon available
for evaluation within the next few months.
The RDRAM licensees include connector makers AMP Inc.
and Molex Inc. as well as chip suppliers Fujitsu,
Hitachi, Hyundai, IBM Microelectronics, Intel, LG
Semicon, Micron, Mitsubishi, NEC, Oki, Samsung, Siemens
and Toshiba.
|
Related
Stories Rambus Completes Direct RDRAM Interface Design
Intel to detail the SDRAM detour on its Rambus
route
Shift in Intel's Road Map Hints at Rambus
Setback
|
|
By Kelly Spang
February 17, 1998
Computer Reseller News
|
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. is
literally racing ahead in 1998 to support its resellers. The
chip maker is both launching a distribution partnership
with Ingram Micro Inc. and co-sponsoring a race car in
the Indy Racing League.
The Santa Ana, Calif.-based distributor, will carry
both AMD's recently launched Processor in a Box (PIB) and
bulk tray products.
|
|
| Updated February 16, 1998 |
|
By Mark Hachman
February 13, 1998
Electronic Buyer's News
|
A new Intel microprocessor, code-named
Tanner, could offer OEMs a smooth transition to Intel
Corp.'s 64-bit microprocessor, Merced. Intel has begun
informing OEMs that the 32-bit Tanner microprocessor will
also function in the same "Slot M" connector
that will eventually house Merced.
Intel declined to comment this week on its Merced
plans. However, in confidential road maps, the company
has anticipated a variety of typical workstations, which
range in cost from about $6,000 to more than $100,000, in
the second half of 1999, about the time Merced is
scheduled to be launched.
|
|
|
By Steve Gold
Newsbytes
|
Intelligent Firmware claims to have
discovered a "serious undocumented flaw" in all
x86 processors which the company says significantly
reduces their performance. Michael Krech, the
company's director, told Newsbytes that the flaw centers
around the speed at which the 80486 and Pentium
processors deal with data reading into, or passing
through, the chip's memory buffers.
|
|
|
By Ron Wilson and Brian Fuller
February 13, 1998
EE Times
|
With about $600 million to pump into
venture companies this year, Intel Corp. has joined the
major leagues of venture-capital firms. But the unique
imperative that drives the microprocessor giant to invest
gives it influence disproportionate to even this large
sum. For Intel, venture investments are not just a source
of income; they are a vital tool in the fight to survive. Survival
might seem an odd preoccupation for the world's largest
semiconductor company. But Intel, in a way all its own,
lives hanging in the balance. For every new generation of
CPUs, Intel must make huge investments in process
development, in buildings and in fabs-an investment too
huge to lose.
|
|
|
By David Lammers and Anthony Cataldo
February 13, 1998
EE Times
|
The road to bringing 800-MHz Direct
Rambus memory technology into the PC mainstream should
become clearer at the Intel Developers Forum, set for
next week in San Jose, Calif. Intel Corp. is expected to
describe a plan to put synchronous DRAMs on a 100- or
133-MHz Rambus module, effectively making SDRAMs mimic
the Rambus architecture. At the same time, Intel is
considering adding a 66-MHz SDRAM specification to its
soon-to-be-announced 440BX chip set, which was initially
earmarked for only 100-MHz SDRAMs. |
|
|
By Kelly Spang
February 13, 1998
Computer Reseller News
|
While Intel was the first to depart from
the traditional socket design with its Pentium II
processor, the slot interface is the industry's future,
according to Intel's president. "We looked at the
basic processor architecture, bus architecture, PC
architecture and [decided] the old Socket 7 [design]
where you try to go to out to the front side bus with
everything was getting cluttered and slowed down,"
said Craig Barrett, Intel president and chief operating
officer, in an interview with CRN Online.
|
|
| Updated February 13, 1998 |
|
By Andy Patrizio
February 12, 1998
TechWeb
|
Bye-bye, Pentium chip. It's been nice
knowing you. Intel plans to end production of its
Pentium CPU, the first chip to break the x86 naming
scheme because the company could not get a trademark on
"586," by the end of this year, company
officials said. Most sales now are for repairs and
inventory restocking.
The Pentium chip was introduced in late 1994 and was
given a facelift last year with the introduction of MMX,
or multimedia extensions. Linley Gwennap, editor in chief
of the Microprocessor Report newsletter, in Sebastopol,
Calif., is not surprised at the Pentium's impending
demise.
|
|
| Updated February 11, 1998 |
|
By Jim Davis
February 10, 1998
C/Net
|
In a bid to offer mainframe performance
using commodity PC building blocks, Data General (DGN)
will offer a powerful server computer with 64 advanced
Intel "Deschutes" Pentium II processors by the
end of the year. Data General says that companies are
increasingly using its Intel-based systems for
mainframe-class computing applications such as online
transaction processing and data warehousing. As more and
more data needs to be stored and processed, the company
believes adding more Intel processors to the mix will
make mainframe class computing power more affordable for
such applications.
|
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
February 10, 1998
C/Net
|
Upcoming high-end Pentium II chips
represent more than a technical redesign. They are a way
for Intel (INTC) to raise prices and continue to drive
its high margins. Future "Deschutes" Pentium
II chips based on the Slot 2 design will range in price
from $1,200 to almost $2,000 in volume, with the most
powerful chips in the line possibly approaching $3,000 at
the time of release.
|
Related
Stories Intel to make 16 kinds of Pentium II
Intel to unveil "Slot 2" chip design
|
|
By Anthony Cataldo
February 10, 1998
EE Times
|
Intel Corp. has staked the success of
its next-generation platform for the Pentium II processor
on a semi-synchronous device that will run at the same
speed as the processor. Unlike the pipelined-burst
synchronous L2 cache SRAMs used for current Pentium II
processors, Intel will manufacture the new SRAMs in-house
for the life of the so-called Slot 2 high-end platform,
company officials said Friday. Intel presented a paper
that described its custom SRAM (CSRAM) at the
International Solid-State Circuits Conference last
Friday. The CSRAM is a 512-kbyte, four-way set
associative L2 cache that will transfer data to the
Pentium II at 3.6-Gbytes per second via a dedicated
72-bit source-synchronous bus. The 2.5-V device will be
built on Intel's 0.35-micron four-level metal process,
and will dissipate 4.5 W at 450 MHz, a frequency that
Intel hopes to hit by the end of the year for both its
Pentium II processor and cache memory.
|
Related
Stories Redundancy and High-Volume Manufacturing Methods
|
|
Christopher W. Hampson
MD6 Cache Product Engineering, Hillsboro, OR, Intel
Corp.
|
This paper will describe practical
aspects of a redundancy implementation on a high-volume
cache memory product. Topics covered include various
aspects of redundancy from a design and product
engineering perspective; and present test development
methods for future product implementations. As robust
as Intel's wafer fabrication processes are, defects still
occur, and wafer yields are the indicator. As die sizes
increase, so does the probability of a defective die.
Failure analysis has shown that a large percentage of
memory array defects are attributed to single-cell
defects. This implies that a single memory cell fault can
cause an array of over four million cells to be deemed
non-functional.
|
Related
Stories Intel bets on custom cache SRAM for Slot 2
platform
|
| Updated February 10, 1998 |
|
By Michael Kanellos
February 10, 1998
C/Net
|
Intel's second slot is a whopper. The
next-generation Pentium II design will be bigger, better,
and, most importantly, much pricier than before,
according to analysts.
The "Slot 2" processor package that will be
used to house upcoming Pentium II processors will be
approximately twice the size of the "Slot 1"
package which Intel currently uses to house the Pentium
II.
|
Related
Stories Intel to unveil "Slot 2" chip design
|
| Updated February 9, 1998 |
|
By Mark Hachman
February 9, 1998
Electronic Buyers News
|
Intel Corp. has slightly altered the
rollout and names of unannounced desktop chipsets that
are scheduled for release later this year, industry
sources said. According to revised roadmaps provided
to its customers, the launch of the desktop 440BX chipset
in the second quarter will be followed by the 440GX in
the third quarter. The GX will be a minor product
transition which increases the addressable memory from 1
to 2 gigabytes.
|
|
|
By Mark Hachman
February 6, 1998
Electronic Buyers News
|
Now that National Semiconductor Corp.
has won the legal right to reverse-engineer Intel Corp.'s
microprocessors, Intel is telling its customers that it
can double the number of microprocessors in its Pentium
II module. In its confidential road maps, Intel has
begun describing workstations for mid-1999 that will make
it possible to put two Katmai processors, with associated
L2 cache, in a single module.
The module would be manufactured to meet the Slot 2
design, allowing room for an additional processor and
full-speed cache SRAM. Analysts predict that significant
re-engineering of the module's heat sink would be
required to adequately cool the chips.
|
Related
Stories New MMX on Intel Katmai chip
Intel Katmai chips due in 1999
Intel Aims Katmai At Corporate Market
Intel sheds light on forthcoming 'Katmai'
processors
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
February 6, 1998
C/Net
|
Intel's (INTC) strategy for this year
borrows from an old American tradition: make a processor
for every pot. Or at least a large number of different
chips for servers and workstations.
Similar to its strategy on desktops, Intel will
release a wide variety of Pentium II processors based on
its next-generation "Slot 2" architecture,
which defines the chip's new packaging and improved
performance characterisitics.
|
|
|
By Andy Patrizio
February 6, 1998
TechWeb
|
Stung by Advanced Micro Devices' success
at the low end of the CPU market, Intel is readying a
pair of Pentium II processors designed for the sub-$1,000
computer market. Code-named Covington and Mendocino,
the Pentium II chips are made from the same .25-micron
die as the faster and more expensive Deschutes family,
which just began shipping. But while Deschutes chips
start at 333 MHz and should eventually hit 450 MHz by the
end of this year, Covington and Mendocino are slower,
reportedly around 266 MHz.
|
|
| Updated February 4, 1998 |
|
By SBN Staff
February 4, 1998
Semiconductor Business News
|
Intel and National Semiconductor
announced Tuesday they have settled a patent infringement
lawsuit filed by Cyrix before the Texas company was
acquired by National last November. Intel and National
-- both based in Santa Clara, Calif., -- agreed to extend
the terms of their patent cross-license agreement to
include patents owned by Cryix. National and Intel did
not disclose the details of the suit settlement.
|
|
|
By Patrick Waurzyniak
February 3, 1998
Electronic Buyers News
|
Intel Corp. and National Semiconductor
Corp. on Tuesday said the companies had agreed to settle
a patent infringement lawsuit filed against Intel by
Cyrix Corp. prior to Cyrix's acquisition last fall by
National Semiconductor. The agreement also extends a
broad cross-licensing agreement between Intel and
National, both based in Santa Clara, Calif., and it also
should put to rest a pair of legal disputes started by
Cyrix when the Richardson, Texas-based chip maker sued
Intel in May 1997 regarding patent infringement related
to the Intel Pentium and Pentium II line of
microprocessors.
|
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
February 3, 1998
C/Net
|
Later this week, Intel will publicly
reveal details of its upcoming "Slot 2" Pentium
II chip design for the first time and also give an
overview of the 450-MHz Pentium II "Deschutes"
processor, two product innovations that will likely be
seen in servers and workstations in the second half of
the year. Intel's plans will be sketched out at the
International Solid-State Circuits Conference sponsored
by the Solid-State Circuits Society. The conference takes
place from February 5 through February 7 in San
Francisco.
|
|
|
By C/Net Staff
February 3, 1998
C/Net
|
Digital Equipment jumped the gun on a
San Francisco technology conference scheduled later this
week by announcing it plans to produce a 1,000-MHz Alpha
chip. At the conference, IBM will unveil details for a
1,000-MHz PowerPC microprocessor, as well the first
concrete plans for a copper-based chip--a shift in
technology that many believe will keep the industry on
track to achieve ever-greater leaps in performance. Also,
Intel will outline the details of its highly secret
"Slot 2" architecture used in its fastest
Pentium II chips, expected to reach 450 MHz by year's
end. |
Related
Stories Intel to unveil "Slot 2" chip design
IBM joins the 1,000-MHz club
Digital's Alpha to break 1,000 MHz
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
February 3, 1998
C/Net
|
Cyrix (CYRX) is free to make its own
chips based on the Pentium II design under an agreement
between parent company National Semiconductor (NSM-AL)
and Intel (INTC). Intel and National Semiconductor
have settled an existing patent infringement lawsuit and
extended a broad cross-licensing agreement that will
allow for the Pentium II duplication.
In essence, the settlement means that Cyrix will have
access to all of Intel's patents and that Intel cannot
sue National or Cyrix for infringement, said Alan
Bernheimer, a National spokesman. "Neither company
can sue the other for patent infringement," he said.
|
Releated
Stories Intel: Pentium II not easy for Cyrix
Cyrix break Pentium II monopoly
Cyrix claims rights to Pentium II, Slot 1
secrets
Digital, Cyrix sue Intel over patents
|
|
By Jim Davis
February 3, 1998
C/Net
|
Despite the news of a patent settlement
with rival Intel, Cyrix's day in the sun may be over: Its
competitors are catching up in the low-cost computer chip
market, a business Cyrix and Compaq Computer virtually
invented a year ago. Cyrix processors helped power the
rise of the market for PCs priced less than $1,000,
playing a key role when Compaq introduced an
ultra-low-cost Cyrix-based consumer box back in February
of 1997. Since then, the market has grown leaps and
bounds, led by a series of new Compaq consumer models
using Cyrix processors.
|
Related
Stories National making first Cyrix chips
AMD evicts Intel, Cyrix at Compaq
Cyrix claims rights to Pentium II, Slot 1
secrets
|
|
By Kelly Spang
February 2, 1998
Computer Reseller News
|
National Semiconductor Corp. stock took
a beating today after the company warned that third
quarter earnings will be lower than analysts
expectations. A slow down associated with the Asian
economic crisis, along with subsidiary Cyrix Corp.'s
troubled ramp of its higher speed MediaGX chip, are
likely to drag down National earnings for the quarter
ending March 1, according to company officials.
|
|
|
Press Release
Via Technologies, Inc.
|
The Apollo MVP3 is a high performance,
cost effective, and energy efficient chip set for the
implementation of AGP, PCI, and ISA in desktop and
notebook personal computer systems from 66MHz to 100 MHz
based on 64-bit Socket-7 super-scalar processors. |
|
| Updated February 3, 1998 |
|
By Jim Davis and Michael Kanellos
February 2, 1998
C/Net
|
IBM (IBM) later this week will unveil
details for a 1,000-MHz PowerPC microprocessor as well
the first concrete plans for a copper-based
microprocessor, a shift in chipmaking technology that
many believe will keep the industry on track to achieve
further giant leaps in performance. Advanced Micro
Devices (AMD) and Intel will also be discussing new chip
technology, including the fastest Pentium II chip yet.
|
|
|
By Robert Lemos
February 3, 1998
ZDNN
|
Problems producing the next generation
of multimedia PC processors from its
subsidiary Cyrix Corp. has led National Semiconductor
Corp. to downgrade its earning estimates for its third
quarter ending March 31. "National expects sales
from its recently acquired Cyrix business unit to decline
in the third quarter," said a statement released on
Monday by the Santa Clara, Calif., company. "This is
due to the company's difficulty in ramping up adequate
volumes to meet demand during the quarter."
|
|
|
By Peter Clarke
February 2, 1998
EE Times
|
Digital Equipment Corp.has started
sampling its third-generation 64-bit Alpha RISC
microprocessor, which maintains at least a two-times
performance advantage over other microprocessors,
including Intel's Merced, according to Digital. Harry
Copperman, senior vice president of Digital's products
division, said the latest Alpha processor, named the
21264, was being introduced with a clock frequency of
600-MHz, and that the frequency is expected to be
increased to 1-GHz by the year 2000. The chip yields
40-SPECmark integer performance and 60-SPECmark
floating-point performance at 600-MHz, and will rise to
100-SPECmark integer performance and 150-SPECmark
floating-point performance at 1 GHz, Copperman said.
"This is two times the performance of any other
architecture available or on the horizon," he said.
The Alpha 21264 features twice the clock frequency and
four times the performance of Digital's previous
generation Alpha 21164 processor.
|
|
|
By Anthony Cataldo and David Lammers
February 2, 1998
EE Times
|
The belief that the wide adoption of
Direct Rambus memory technology will face significant
delays spread across a wide cross-section of the DRAM
industry last week as reports circulated that Intel Corp.
has amended its DRAM road map to allow a future chip set
the option of using either 133-MHz SDRAM or Direct Rambus
DRAM for PC main memory. The company has been quietly
circulating a new SDRAM specification, known as P133L, to
DRAM manufacturers for several weeks. |
|
|
By Reuters
February 3, 1998
San Jose Mercury News
|
The decision by Intel Corp., the world's
largest computer chip maker, to set up in Costa Rica has
catapulted this small nation on to the global investment
map, laying the foundations for it to become the
high-tech heart of Latin America, officials said. Due
to start exporting second-generation Pentium II
microchips next month, Intel's $500 million assembly
plant on the outskirts of the capital city has prompted a
surge in information technology investment in this
tropical country, which once relied on coffee, bananas
and U.S. aid.
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By Kimberly Caisse
February 2, 1998
Computer Reseller News
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Digital Equipment Corp., soon to be a
wholly owned subsidiary of Compaq Computer Corp.,
provided a snapshot of how it plans to compete with Intel
Corp.'s Merced processor with the next generation Alpha
processor after 1999. When first shipped in the summer,
the new Alpha 21264 will run at 600-MHz, said Harry
Copperman, Digital's senior vice president of product
development. Its clock speed is slated to be 1-GHz by
2000.
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| Updated February 2, 1998 |
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By Kelly Spang
February 2, 1998
Computer Reseller News
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Blaming its ongoing legal battle with
Intel, Intergraph announced a $13.8 million loss for its
fourth quarter. The loss of 43 cents per share was
significantly below Wall Street estimates. Wall Street
analysts had expected Intergraph to lose between 4 cents
to 6 cents for the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31,
according to First Call. In the year-ago quarter, the
company posted a $27.9 million, or 71-cents-a-share,
loss.
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Related
Stories Intergraph: Intel fray causes loss
Despite suit, Intergraph wants its Pentium IIs
Intergraph and Intel in legal flap
Text of the lawsuit
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By Jim Davis
January 30, 1998
C/Net
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Intel's (INTC)
next-generation 64-bit Merced processor is being targeted
for the lofty mainframe computer market, signaling that
future Intel chips will be used in increasingly
sophisticated computers. NEC Japan will use the
upcoming processor along with an as-yet-unannounced
64-bit version of Microsoft's Windows NT in its mainframe
computers, according to Nikkei Computer, a major Japanese
computer monthly.
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By Anthony Cataldo
January 30, 1998
EE Times
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Trying to regain lost market
share and boost sales for its flash memories, Intel Corp.
this week will announce plans to spend $1 billion over
the next two years to convert its Fab 9 flash memory
plant to run a 0.25-micron process using 8-inch wafers.
The process, which will be almost identical to the one
used on the company's Pentium II lines, will enable Intel
to eventually scrap its EPROM-based process. |
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By Anthony Cataldo and Rick Boyd-Merritt
Januar 30, 1998
EE Times
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Digital Equipment Corp.'s
Alpha microprocessor division is preparing to come out
with its answer to Intel's Merced at a time when Alpha's
fate is clouded in the wake of Compaq Computer Corp.'s
announced plan to acquire Digital. The company is
expected to detail significant new Alpha products on
Monday, possibly including plans to take the processor to
speeds of 1 GHz. However, Compaq publicly sketched a road
map last week which shows no role for RISC processors in
its future high-end systems. The Houston PC maker
separately disclosed that it is already working with a
new design group at Intel Corp. to build Merced-based
servers. |
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