Intel Corporation is delivering four new processors (formerly codenamed Prescott) that are built on the company`s industry-leading, high-volume 90-nanometer (nm) manufacturing technology. These processors are among six new offerings in Intel`s line of desktop chips, bringing new features and high performance to a wide range of PC users, from mainstream consumers and businesspeople to gaming enthusiasts and computer power users.
"This new manufacturing technology, along with numerous architectural enhancements, enable us to continue delivering products that allow end-users to interact with a wide variety of digital devices," said Bill Siu, vice-president and general manager, Intel Desktop Platforms Group. "These processors provide improved responsiveness for today`s corporate and home applications, and offer headroom for the next wave of technologies."
Intel`s 90nm (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) process technology is the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing process in the industry, built exclusively on 300mm wafers. This new process combines high performance, low-power transistors, strained silicon, high-speed copper interconnects and a new low-k dielectric material. This is the first time all of these technologies have been integrated into a single manufacturing process.
Intel Pentium 4 processors built on the 90nm process retain the multitasking capabilities of Hyper-Threading (HT) Technology, and include new features such as enhanced Intel NetBurstT microarchitecture, a larger, 1MB Level 2 (L2) cache and 13 new instructions.
Desktop processor family fuels office and digital home usage models
Intel`s family of Intel Pentium 4 processors supporting HT Technology provide home and business users a great computing experience by keeping the PC responsive while processing other tasks in the background.
For example, a home user can play an immersive game while encoding audio or video, compressing images or compositing special effects. An IT department can run background applications such as continuous virus scanning, encryption or compression simultaneously, while minimising disruption for other business users in the same computing environment.
In addition to the four processors manufactured on the 90nm process, Intel added a 3.40GHz version of the Intel Pentium 4 processor supporting HT Technology based on Intel`s 0.13-micron process technology to its desktop processor family.
Updated, extreme performance for gaming
Intel has also revved up the speed of its Pentium 4 processor Extreme Edition supporting HT Technology to 3.40GHz. This processor is built on Intel`s 0.13-micron process technology, and is targeted specifically for high-end gamers and computer power users with its 2MB of on-die Level 3 (L3) cache. These users can now expect an even better experience when pushing their PCs to the edge of performance.
The Intel Pentium 4 processor with HT Technology Extreme Edition at 3.40GHz delivers the highest Microsoft Windows XP* desktop processor performance as measured by SPEC CPU 2000 (compared to other Microsoft Windows desktop processor results published at http://www.specbench.org/cpu2000/results/as of Feb. 1) with a SPECint*_base2000 score of 1666 and a SPECfp*_base2000 score of 1546.
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Intel, the world`s largest chipmaker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
* Hyper-Threading Technology requires a computer system with an Intel Pentium 4 processor supporting HT Technology and an HT Technology enabled chipset, BIOS and operating system. Performance will vary depending on the specific hardware and software you use. See www.intel.com/info/hyperthreading for more information including details on which processors support HT Technology.
* Performance will vary based on system configuration. For more information on the performance of Intel products, visit www.intel.com/performance/resources/limits.htm.