Intel Makes Room For New Processors

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According to OEMs and industry sources, Intel will formally announce three new desktop microprocessors next Monday: a 750-MHz Coppermine with a 100-MHz front-side bus; and two 800 MHz parts, one each with a 100- and 133-MHz bus interface. In what sources said was anticipation of the introductions, Intel yesterday nudged its top-of-the-line Coppermine chip prices slightly lower, on the order of 4 percent.

A spokesman for the Santa Clara, Calif., company said price cuts are planned months in advance, and may not be tied to any particular product launch. He declined to comment on word of the new Coppermine releases.

Observers said the introductions are the latest sweep of the clock-speed pendulum swinging between Intel and its rival, Advanced Micro Devices, Sunnyvale, Calif. AMD is currently shipping a 750-MHz Athlon microprocessor, and its latest plan of record calls for the 800-MHz version to be released in the first quarter of next year.

Intel originally planned the Coppermine launch for next month--Jan. 15, according to online reports--but moved up the launch for competitive reasons, observers said. A spate of new mobile, Xeon, and Celeron products are still planned for separate release dates in mid-January, including Intel's new SpeedStep, or Geyserville, technology, which adjusts the processor clock speed to minimize the operating voltage and power consumption when running on battery power. Prices of the new chips were not immediately available.

Yesterday, however, Intel cut the price of its 733-MHz Coppermine Xeon by 3 percent to $804; nudged the 667-MHz version down 3 percent to $633; and dropped the 600-MHz part to $494, down 2 percent. All of the Xeon reductions were made on chips with 256 Kbytes of on-chip level-2 cache.

Intel also dropped its desktop Pentium III prices. Five desktop Coppermine versions were reduced by 2 percent to 4 percent: the 733-MHz version to $754; the 700-MHz version to $733; the 667-MHz and 650-MHz versions to $583 and $562, respectively; and the 600-MHz Coppermine to $444. The latter device is now priced lower than a generic 600-MHz Pentium III without integrated on-chip cache, which sells for $465.

Intel also trimmed its Coppermine prices by 7 percent, lowering its 533-MHz chip from $305 to $284, and issued a 7 percent reduction for its 533-MHz generic Pentium III, which it trimmed to $294.