x86 Monthly News

Collected By Robert R. Collins

 

 

February 1998

Older News

Updated February 27, 1998

Intel to field performance-enhancing instructions in Deschutes

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.

 

Intel Code Names Revealed

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.  

IBM, AMD shake on chip deal

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.

 

AMD strikes foundry pact with IBM

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

Taiwan's Acer, Via Readying Pentium II Chipsets

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.

 

Via Announces New Chipsets

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.

 

The 100MHz Bus -- Driving your PC into the Future
VIA Brings Together Key Industry Leaders

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.  

ARM license gives Intel a handheld presence

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

StrongARM: Intel nabs its
missing link

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

Intel Chips In At The Low-End

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.

 

Intel ROADMAP

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...  

Intel Katmai (MMX2) info

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

Secret MMX-2 Instructions discovered on Pentium II (Deschutes) processor
FXSAVE / FXRSTOR

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".

 

Intel To Phase Out x86 In Favor Of IA-64

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.

 

Chip breakthrough claimed

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.

 

Compaq, others embrace 64-bit SCO Unix

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

HP will make Merced a winner

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

Superchip won’t be so super

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.

 

HP plans for 64-bit Intel chip

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.

 

Mobile Pentium II Chips Due in April

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.

 

Cyrix, AMD preview processors aimed at future low-cost PCs

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.

 

Intel pumps up the volume

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.

 

Intel gets low-cost RISC chip

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.

 

Intel, Advanced RISC reach StrongARM agreement

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.

 

Intel's ace in a hole -- the rights to StrongARM

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.

 

Intel to license StrongARM RISC once it acquires DEC's chip unit

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

Intel to run with StrongARM

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.

 

Intel Signs Licensing Deal With ARM

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

OEMs can expect Merced samples later this year

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."

 

Curtain lifted slightly on Merced processor

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.

 

Mitac To Show Notebook With Future Intel Pentium II Chip

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.

 

Pentium II portables on tap

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:

 

Pentium II servers pick up speed

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.

 

Intel's Basic Instinct

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.

 

Intel Plays Beat the Clock

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

Intel still possible FTC target

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

Intel confident about FTC inquiry

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

Intel lays out plans for high- and low-end PCs

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.

 

Intel plans a "Basic PC"

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.

 

Intel proposes server initiative

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).

 

Intel technologist hints at future of the IA32 architecture

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.

 

Price pressures slow DRAM transitions

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).

 

Dell And Intel Propel Techs And Nasdaq

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

PC Industry Stuck in a Rut
Relentless Focus on Cost Limits Innovation

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.

 

Intel tilts to system-on-a-chip

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.

 

Intel preaches Pentium II 'segmentation' gospel

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.

 

Intel's low-cost plans

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

3-D Katmai Chip to Ship in 1999

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.

 

Intel Takes Slice And Dice Approach To Chips

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."

 

Intel breaks ground on 300-mm fab

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.

 

Intel Breaks Ground On 300-MM Oregon Wafer Fab

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.

 

Intel starts advanced Oregon plant

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

Intel Demos Chips For Sub-$1,000 PC Assault

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

Intel's 'Covington' MPU due in mid-98

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.

 

Low-cost Pentium II called "kludgey"

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

Grove turns Intel toward low-cost PCs
(with Audio)

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."

 

Wintel: Two roads diverged
Intel, Microsoft hedge bets on 64-bit technology

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

Rambus Completes Direct RDRAM Interface Design

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

Rambus finishes new DRAM interface
Expects to see first silicon in few months

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

AMD Revs Up K6 VAR Incentives

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

Intel Readying 'Tanner' Chip As Bridge To Merced

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.

 

Serious Flaw Claimed In Intel x86 Processor

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.

 

Invest or die: Intel's life on the edge

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.

 

Intel to detail the SDRAM detour on its Rambus route

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.  

Barrett: Intel is Driving the Bus

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

Pentium CPU To Disappear By Year's End

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

64 Pentium IIs to go into server

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.

 

Pricey chips to sustain Intel profits

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

Intel bets on custom cache SRAM for Slot 2 platform

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

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

Intel's Slot 2 is big

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

Intel Revises Desktop Chipset Rollouts

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.

 

Intel Plans Outline Dual Katmai Workstations

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

Intel to make 16 kinds of Pentium II

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.

 

Intel Prepares CPUs For Sub-$1,000 PC

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

Intel And National Settle Cyrix Suit

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.

 

Intel, National Settle Cyrix Suit

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.

 

Intel to unveil "Slot 2" chip design

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.

 

The fastest chips in the world

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

Intel to let Cyrix copy Pentium II

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

Tough times for Cyrix?

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

National Semi Off Course for Q3

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.

 

Via releases Apollo MVP3 Chipset

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

IBM joins the 1,000-MHz club

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.

 

Cyrix a drag on National Semi

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."

 

With Intel's help, Alpha 21264 will hit 1-GHz

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.

 

Shift in Intel's Road Map Hints at Rambus Setback

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.  

Intel puts Costa Rica on the investment map

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.

 

Digital Unveils Alpha Vs. Merced Strategy

By Kimberly Caisse

February 2, 1998
Computer Reseller News

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.

 
Updated February 2, 1998

Intergraph Blames Intel For $13.8 Million Loss

By Kelly Spang

February 2, 1998
Computer Reseller News

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.

Related Stories

Intergraph: Intel fray causes loss

Despite suit, Intergraph wants its Pentium IIs

Intergraph and Intel in legal flap

Text of the lawsuit

New Intel chip for mainframes

By Jim Davis

January 30, 1998
C/Net

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.

 

Intel to shift flash fab to 0.25-micron

By Anthony Cataldo

January 30, 1998
EE Times

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.  

Digital attacks, Compaq adopts Intel's Merced

By Anthony Cataldo and Rick Boyd-Merritt

Januar 30, 1998
EE Times

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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