Distributor Axiz has announced it will showcase Intel`s Extreme Edition - the P4 desktop processor aimed at gamers - at forthcoming events, but warns that it will be in short supply until year-end, and admits it is "probably too expensive for the average pocket" at $925 per unit.
Alex Morse, Intel product manager at Axiz, says Intel channel conferences are scheduled to take place around SA and neighbouring countries over the next six weeks.
She explains the price tag by pointing to the level of on-die cache. "It features 2MB of level 3 cache, which effectively puts it at the level of a mini-Xeon processor [designed for servers]."
The chip is clocked to 3.2GHz and also has 512KB L2 cache. Like certain other P4s, it supports HyperThreading (a means to run two applications on one physical CPU, but made to "seem like" two processors), a front-side bus with an effective bit rate of 800MHz, and is built on 0.13-micron technology.
Intel is shipping in 10 000 unit quantities to original equipment manufacturers and in boxed versions to authorised distributors. What the manufacturer calls "those who know their technology and crave high performance", Morse refers to as early adopters, saying the CPUs are not meant for ordinary pockets.
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