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Top Stories for September 17, 1999 (details below) |
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c't Magazine |
Architecture Contest
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InfoWorld Electric |
Intel battles customers on Rambus, loses clout |
InfoWorld Electric |
IBM's Monterey claims success with Merced |
Electronic Buyers' News |
Centaur deal costs Via $51 million, but CPU design could play big role |
C/Net |
Intel: Sub-$1,000 notebooks possible |
C/Net |
Intel unveils faster Celeron chips |
C/Net |
Rambus PCs will lag behind debut of memory system |
The Register Files |
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The Register |
Intel gets heavy over Intel name, sues firm |
The Register |
Overclocking -- just say no |
Today's Related Stories |
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Semiconductor Business News |
Via to pay $51 million for IDT's x86 design IP |
| Microprocessor
Headline News Collected By Robert R. Collins |
Week of September 12, 1999 |
Older News |
September 17, 1999 |
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Architecture Contest
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From the outside they look almost identical, the Athlon and the Pentium III, but internally they work very differently. Athlon is many years younger and significantly stronger especially due to its huge cache muscles. But the Pentium III is also able to collect some (few) architectural plus points.
When AMDs chief developer Dirk Meyer introduced the basics of the Athlon architecture at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose in October 1998 (back then the processor was still called K7) the more than 1500 attendees - among them numerous Intel employees - were obviously quite impressed. Intel quickly decided to reveal a few additional details about Merced to at least attract some attention. |
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Intel battles customers on Rambus, loses cloutBy Dan Briody and Ephraim Schwartz September 16, 1999 |
Just one week away from Intel's launch of its first product to use the Rambus memory architecture (RDRAM), the religious debate over the future of PC memory architecture is casting doubt over the future of Rambus, and over Intel's overall ability to dominate the PC market as it once did.
Credited with driving PC hardware standards for decades, Intel has met with significant resistance from PC makers in establishing Rambus as the de facto memory model in PCs. When the company announces its 820 chip set on Sep. 27, less than the normal standing-room-only crowd of PC makers will be saluting its RDRAM capabilities. |
Editorial Comment: Intel has a long history of imposing their will on the industry, acting like the consumer was the driving force, then retreating when the scheme backfires. This article shouldn't surprise anybody - RRC |
IBM's Monterey claims success with MercedBy Ed Scannell and Mike Lattig September 16, 1999 |
While Intel's IA-64 chip is still a year away from being a commercial reality, IBM and other members of the Monterey/64 consortium will ignite the operating systems wars for the chip when they announce Friday they have an early version of their operating system working on the chip.
IBM successfully booted a Merced-based IA-64 system running Monterey/64 this past Monday at an Intel lab in Dupont, Wash. and did so without the use of a software emulator, according to company officials. Consortium officials claim this marks the first time a Unix operating system is up and running on the long-awaited 64-bit chip. |
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Centaur deal costs Via $51 million, but CPU design could play big roleBy Mark Hachman September 16, 1999 |
Chipset vendor Via Technologies Inc. today finalized its acquisition of Integrated Device Technology Inc.'s Centaur Technology microprocessor division, confirming that it paid $51 million for the subsidiary.
The sum is less than a third of the $167 million Via paid in July to buy out National Semiconductor Corp.'s Cyrix microprocessor design team and architecture, which had a more established market share. Even so, the disparity between the companies' sale prices may prove to be somewhat ironic, given their expected new roles within Via. |
See Today's Related Stories |
Intel: Sub-$1,000 notebooks possibleBy John G. Spooner September 15, 1999 |
Could notebooks break the sub-$1,000 barrier? It's not outside the bounds of reason, according to Intel Corp.
"We're thinking that by the holiday season next year, there could be a switch in what you're seeing for notebook prices vs. desktops. The delta could be a lot smaller," said Sam Wilkie, a product manager in Intel's Mobile and Handheld Products Group. Intel (INTC) rolled out new 433MHz and 466MHz mobile Celeron processors on Wednesday. And notebook vendors Gateway Inc. and Dell Computer Corp, promptly announced new systems with the chips starting around $2,000. |
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Intel unveils faster Celeron chipsBy Stephen Shankland September 16, 1999 |
Intel ratcheted up the speed of its Celeron processors for portable computers today, introducing two new, faster chips.
As previously reported, the new chips run at speeds of 433 MHz and 466 MHz. Intel cut mobile Celeron prices by as much as 40 percent in the last two weeks to make way for the new chips. In large quantities, the new chips cost $159 for the 433-MHz chip and $209 for the 466-MHz chip, Intel said. Intel's low-end mobile chips, like those of rival manufacturer AMD, begin at 300 MHz. |
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Rambus PCs will lag behind debut of memory systemBy Stephen Shankland September 16, 1999 |
Intel soon will unveil new hardware that uses Rambus memory, but some major PC manufacturers won't offer upgraded systems until October.
Intel is scheduled to debut its chipset that supports Rambus on September 27. However, companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard apparently will not have systems ready for several weeks. Typically, PC manufacturers have products in the pipeline when an eagerly anticipated technology is first released. The lag is another bump in the road for Rambus. Intel, the biggest backer of the next-generation memory, has already delayed the chipset, pushing it back from June to September. In addition, memory manufacturers have complained about the high costs of manufacturing the memory chips. |
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The Register Files |
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Intel gets heavy over Intel name, sues firmBy Mike Magee September 16, 1999 |
Chip giant Intel has taken legal action against a US firm for an alleged breach of its trademark.
It filed suit on the 10th of September against Inteltech Enterprises Inc, in a US district court in Denver Colorado. It is unclear how much money Intel wants for the alleged infringement of its trademark -- that is its name. |
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Overclocking -- just say noBy Peter Sherriff September 16, 1999 |
You don't have to look far on the Web or in the more geeky IT mags to see loads of "mine's faster than yours" stories where awfully clever people are overclocking systems to within an inch of their lives.
Celeron 300As are one of the overclockers' favourites and it isn't unusual to see boasts of these poor little processors being run at more than double their rated speeds. |
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Today's Related Stories |
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Via to pay $51 million for IDT's x86 design IPSeptember 16, 1999 |
Integrated Device Technology Inc. here will receive $51 million in cash from Via Technologies Inc. in return for intellectual property (IP) related to WinChip microprocessor technology developed by IDT's Centaur x86 microprocessor design subsidiary.
The agreement, which IDT and Via announced the agreement last month, also calls for patent cross-licensing team. The companies expect the transaction to close within the month. |
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September 16, 1999 |
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Intel revs mobile Celeron chipsBy John G. Spooner September 15, 1999 |
Intel Corp. announced a performance boost for low-cost notebook PCs on Wednesday, introducing its latest
mobile Celeron processors running at 433MHz and 466MHz.
While it's a run-of-the-mill announcement for Intel (INTC), end users may find that notebooks with the chips are packing brand new features. That's because the Celeron costs much less than Intel's Pentium II and forthcoming mobile Pentium III chips. The mobile 400MHz Pentium II, for example, cost $358 per 1,000. The lower cost can help notebook vendors incorporate new features, such as larger screen sizes and new disk drive technologies, but still arrive at prices around the $2,000 mark. |
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The Register Files |
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AMD to cut Athlon price in October?By Mike Magee September 15, 1999 |
Reports that AMD is set to cut prices on the 4th of October next were neither confirmed nor denied by the firm today.
Yesterday, we reliably reported that AMD has already started shipping volumes of a 700MHz Athlon. When it does ship this part, in the near future, price adjustments are inevitable. According to information which a dealer claimed he received from a European AMD distributor, prices of Athlon K7s will fall as the company readies its faster 700MHz Athlon. |
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September 15, 1999 |
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AMD ships Athlon 700s in volumeBy Mike Magee September 14, 1999 |
An OEM close to AMD's plans has told The Register that it has started to receive supplies of the Athlon 700MHz microprocessor in volume.
That means that AMD has exceeded its target in ramping up the processor frequency of the Athlon K7, and means machines are likely to be available in a matter of weeks. The German OEM, who declined to be named, said that he had already received sufficient stock of Athlon 700s to start building machines. Further volume stocks are on their way to him, he confirmed. |
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The Register Files |
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Pentium II dead as dodo as famine strikes Intel chip partsBy Mike Magee September 14, 1999 |
Intel has told its distributors and dealers that there is limited availability on some of its range of server and desktop microprocessors.
The parts affected are the 500MHz Pentium III, but the famine is at its worst on the soon-to-be killed Pentium II family. There are shortages on both the 400MHz SECC2 and the 400MHz SECC chips, as well as the 350MHz Pentium II, which we have reported earlier. |
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Via's chip roadmap takes shapeSeptember 14, 1999 |
The first indication of how Via will integrate its Cyrix and Centaur chip families has appeared on the Web.
According to JC's news, Via has plans to now release its Gobi S370 part towards the end of this year, with NatSemi fabbing the part. He adds that six months later, production of its part, which will be renamed Joshua, will go to a Taiwanese foundry and be manufactured using a .18 micron process. |
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Camino review pops up on WebSeptember 14, 1999 |
A hardware site has posted what it claims is the first review of motherboards using the i820 Camino chipset.
Got Apex also has more information on the Cape Cod and Vancouver mobos Intel will shortly release. The reviewer was restricted to testing boards using a Rambus 64MB RIMM. He wanted to buy a 128MB RIMM but was quoted the staggering price of $825 for the upgrade. |
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AMD doesn't react to Intel price movesBy Mike Magee September 14, 1999 |
Advanced Micro Devices did not reduce prices on a number of its K6-2 and K6-III parts over the weekend, as part of its new positioning strategy.
We originally reported this story as fact, using info on hardware sites and other wires, but AMD has now told us no changes were made at the weekend, nor are any others in the offing. It has so far resisted the barrage of cuts by Intel, intended to make it push down the prices of its Athlon K7 part. |
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September 14, 1999 |
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Via Shopping Spree Reshapes x86 Market
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Via Technologies has made a bold entry into the x86 processor market by acquiring both Cyrix and IDT's Centaur group. This unusual tactic raises questions about how the Taiwanese company will combine the two design teams and two product lines. If Via plays its cards well, however, it could be a potent competitor for Intel and AMD in the low end of the PC processor market.
The first question is why Via bought both companies instead of just one. When Cyrix went up for sale, it looked like a better deal than Centaur, with a larger market share and a more powerful processor core. But upon further analysis, the advantages of Centaur's technology became clear. |
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What if OS vendors are late to Intel's Merced party?By Mary Jo Foley September 13, 1999 |
Intel Corp. is dressing up for a big dance, but it may need to make a few frantic phone calls to find a date.
While the chip giant says its 64-bit Merced processor will ship next year, it's unclear whether operating
system vendors can get to the party on time.
The situation seems unthinkable, given that Intel and its software partners have spent four years hailing Merced as the hardware architecture for the next millennium. But as Merced, a.k.a. the IA-64 processor, creeps ever closer, operating system vendors -- including Microsoft Corp., IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc. -- are making only plodding progress toward their goals of shipping simultaneously with the oft-delayed chip. |
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The Register Files |
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Intel 810e futures pop up on the WebBy Mike Magee September 10, 1999 |
A hardware site has blown the whistle on Intel's up and coming 810e chipset.
HardOCP has come into possession of three Intel slides which outline key features of Intel's platform. As expected, the 810e will support the 133MHz front-side bus and will be pin-compatible with the 810. And again, it will support the S370 socket and Coppermine, when those processors start to appear. |
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No Pentium IV re-name on way -- IntelBy Mike Magee September 13, 1999 |
Intel has discounted rumours circulating on bulletin boards worldwide that it will name its .18 micron Coppermine processor the Pentium IV.
An Intel representative said there were no plans to change the name when the chips debut next month -- as far as he was aware. Be that as it may, there is a marchitecture move afoot. Intel never silkscreened its new and shiny Pentium III logo onto Slot 1 packaging. The company wants to move Coppermine to Socket 370 and confine Slot 1 for desktops to its gulag. |
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September 13, 1999 |
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Dell Reveals 'First-Ever' Rambus BenchmarksBy Bert McComas September 6, 1999 |
At the Intel Developer Forum (Sept 1st 1999 in Palm
Springs, CA) Jay Bell, Senior Fellow of Dell Computer disclosed the first
publicly released benchmark results for the Rambus/Camino platform.
Though the results have yet to be independently verified, performance figures quoted by Mr. Bell generally indicate that under normal conditions, Rambus degrades the performance of Microsoft Office 2000 applications by an average of 25% as compared to PC100. Using a benchmark called Office Bench, Dell's engineers contrasted a BX chipset platform using 100MHz SDRAM against a Camino platform with 800MHz Direct Rambus. Other than DRAM and chip set, both systems were configured identically with 500MHz processors. |
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DRAM Performance Analysis using Intel's Platform Test ProgramBy Bert McComas September 8 1999 |
At IDF last week, Intel released its long awaited Rambus Benchmark. A CD labeled "Platform Tests v1.1" was widely distributed to attendees at the conference, and was separately made available to product reviewers and members of the press. It was demonstrated in Pat Gelsinger's keynote address and in various other presentations.
This benchmark synthetically tests DRAM bandwidth and AGP bandwidth. Its goal is to highlight the performance advantages of Intel's Camino platform. I have spent a week with this program to figure out everything I can about it. Though there are many details to absorb, we can jump right to the bottom line. There are only a few big issues. Is this Benchmark Effective? No. Its broken. |
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Acer Labs Unveils Chip Set, Readies IPOBy Mark Hachman September 9, 1999 |
Preparing for next week's initial public offering on the Taiwan stock exchange, chip set maker Acer Laboratories Inc. on Wednesday unveiled details of its first collaboration with graphics house Nvidia.
ALI and Nvidia jointly introduced the Aladdin TNT2, a chip set the companies co-designed and which combines Nvidia's Riva TNT2 core with an enhanced ALI Aladdin Pro II chip set for Slot 1-based desktop PCs. The integrated chip set is the first fruit of the Nvidia-ALI development relationship that was officially acknowledged only three weeks ago. ALI, which ranks fourth in sales behind Intel, and fellow Taiwan-based chip set maker Via Technologies and Silicon Integrated Systems (SIS), is expected to use the announcement to boost its own share price when the company debuts on the Taiwan stock exchange next week. On Monday, Taipei-based ALI revised its fiscal 1999 forecast upwards to $128 million; estimated profits after taxes were also raised to $10 million. |
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The Register Files |
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Intel's performance figures for i820, AGP 4X flawedBy Mike Magee September 10, 1999 |
Performance tests on Rambus and AGP 4X technology that Intel distributed at its Developer Forum last week, do not add up, a semiconductor analyst has claimed.
Bert McComas, at InQuest, said that he had tested the program, aimed at supporting Intel's i820 Camino chipset, and believed the benchmark was "ineffective and broken". He said that the bandwidth test produces results "that defy reason and logic". According to McComas, the benchmark is a marketing tool and the test "conveniently spits out results" comparing Rambus memory to PC-100 SDRAM memory. |
See Related Stories
DRAM Performance Analysis using Intel's Platform Test Program |
AMD may trash Intel's Merced on price/performanceBy Mike Magee September 10, 1999 |
Intel's AL460GX chipset may not match the power of AMD's Irongate D4 chipset, which will appear in motherboards in late Q1, next year.
Last week, Intel unveiled the Merced chipset at its Developer Forum in Palm Springs, but no details were given on whether its claim of 4.2Gb/s throughput on dual memory buses was for the total throughput, or referred to each bus, giving a total of 8.4GB/s. Sources close to AMD's plans say that if the first case is true, then Intel's expensive chipset is "no better" than the Irongate D4 chipset announced at the Hot Chips conference last month. |
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AMD's K8 to be re-engineered K7By Mike Magee September 10, 1999 |
Highly reliable sources close to AMD's plans have indicated that the company has shifted its plans on its future, 64-bit K8 processor.
At the same time, the same sources say a number of K8 engineers at AMD have been wooed away from the firm to work at various Silicon Valley startups. According to the source, the original K8 64-bit design is now on ice, and the firm has decided instead to derive the design of the future processor from its Athlon K7, but extended to 64-bit mode. |
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Samsung ramps up Rambus volumesBy Mike Magee September 10, 1999 |
Samsung has set its stall on grabbing 60 per cent of the world's Rambus memory market this year, after saying it's the first company to begin mass-producing RDRAM chips.
The Korean vendor estimated its huge slice of the Rambus cake would draw up to $250 million in sales, rising to $2 billion in the year 2000, according to Korean daily Maeil Business Newspaper. Samsung, which developed Rambus DRAMs six months before its rivals, will use its Rambus chips for 3D graphics products and use an 0.10 micron design rule. |
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