Intel Corp. officials turned up further pressure on rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) by demonstrating a 2GHz version of the Pentium 4 at the Intel Developer Forum which runs here this week and ends Wednesday. AMD’s fastest processor currently available is the 1.33GHz Athlon launched in March.
Also, Intel on Monday announced the availability of the 1.7GHz Pentium 4 processor at the show.
The 2GHz Pentium 4 processor is slated to ship during the third quarter of 2001, said Louis Burns, vice- president and general manager of Intel’s desktop platforms group.
While the demonstration of the 2GHz Pentium 4 underscores a growing gap in performance between Intel and AMD processors, Intel is not just competing in terms of performance alone.
Intel officials recently announced deep price reductions that are set to take effect April 29. The 1.5GHz Pentium 4, which carried a list price of US$637 in March, will see its price cut to $256. The 1.4GHz and 1.3GHz Pentium 4s, which are currently priced at $375 and $268 respectively, will both fall to $193. The 1.7GHz Pentium 4 is priced at $352 in bulk quantities.
By comparison, the 1.33GHz Athlon was priced at $350 in March.
Intel, in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at http://www.intel.com/.