 |
|
|
|
Desktops
What's on our radar... and what should be on yours
This month, you'll start to see PCs with Intel's latest chipset. Code-named Canterwood, it targets the performance desktop market and features an 800MHz front-side bus. Coming up next month will be Intel's chipset update--code-named Springdale--for the mainstream market. Looking further down the road, Intel will release its next-generation desktop CPU sometime in the second half of the year. For AMD's part, it is expected to release a Barton chip with a speedier front-side bus next month.
Availability
|
Model name
|
Price
|
The scoop
|
Later in 2003
|
Intel Prescott CPU
|
N/A
|
Intel's next-generation desktop chip, code-named Prescott, is due out by the end of the year. The company recently divulged some details about the new chip at February's Intel Developer Forum. Prescott will be based on the same basic NetBurst architecture of the Pentium 4 but will come with a number of improvements. The chip will have 1MB of L2 cache, twice as much as current Pentium 4s have, and 13 new instructions--computing pathways for handling specific tasks such as multimedia processing. It'll be Intel's first chip built on a 90-nanometer process and will launch at a speed of more than 3GHz with an enhanced version of Hyper-Threading and support for LaGrande security technology.
Specs: 90nm process, scalable to 4GHz or 5GHz, 1MB of L2 cache; 800MHz front-side bus
|
|
Summer 2003
|
Microsoft Media Center, take two
|
N/A
|
Word is that Microsoft is working on an update to its Windows XP Media Center Edition OS that could ship on PCs as early as this summer. According to sources, this will be a new version of the OS--not just a service-pack update. Microsoft isn't commenting on what enhancements we'll see on the new version, but they could include wireless networking and synchronization capabilities.
Specs: N/A
|
|
April/May, 2003
|
Intel Canterwood and Springdale chipsets
|
N/A
|
Intel is expected to release its new Canterwood chipset on April 14, 2003, to be followed sometime in May by the addition of its Springdale chipset. Both chipsets will boast an 800MHz system bus and will support dual-channel DDR400 memory, Serial ATA, AGP 8X, gigabit Ethernet, and Intel's own Hyper-Threading technology. Canterwood, however, will exhibit faster internal speed paths, a difference that's called Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT).
Specs: 800MHz frontside bus with support for dual-channel DDR400 memory, Serial ATA, AGP 8X, gigabit Ethernet, and Hyper-Threading technology.
|
|
May, 2003
|
Barton getting faster bus
|
$588
|
AMD reportedly has plans to launch a new version of its Barton-core Athlon XP processor with a 400MHz front-side bus (FSB) in May. In February, AMD introduced its new Barton core with the Athlon XP 3000+, which has a 333MHz FSB. The difference in bus speed is reportedly the only difference between the new Barton chip and what you'll find on the current Athlon XP 3000+.
Specs: 400MHz front-side bus; 512K of L2 cache; 0.13-micron process; 54.3 million transistors
|
|
|
|
|
