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Intel Coppermine chips: now the goldmine is official…

Fifteen CuMines a-processing and a partridge in a pear tree

Intel has now confirmed the introduction of a total of fifteen Pentium III and Pentium III Xeons using its .18 micron (Coppermine) technology and supplied prices. At the same time, it has cut prices on its existing .25 micron parts (tinmine?) which will be phased out as soon as it can convert its factories to the newer and faster process. It's something of a relief to all of us here at The Register, because it means we won't have to write about it for a while. But that's probably only for a short while... As revealed here earlier, the products include Pentium IIIs which use a socket 370 configuration, as well as the introduction of a 733MHz Pentium III. Price supplied below by Intel are for people who buy the chips in 1,000 units. The Xeon pricing is as follows: A 733 MHz with 256k cache costs $826, a 667 MHz 256k cache costs $655, and a 600 MHz 256k cache costs $505. Desktop Pentium III prices are as follows: 733 MHz costs $776, a 700 MHz $754, a 667 MHz chip $605, a 650 MHz processor $583, and the 600MHz costs $455. The S370 550 MHz costs $368, while the S370 500MHz part costs 500 MHz $239, A 533MHz SECC2 chip costs $305. The introduction of the Coppermine chips means prices of the older .25 micron processors will fall. The 600 MHz now costs $465, the 550MHz $348, the 533MHz $316, the 500MHz chip $229, and the 450MHz parts $173. Intel has also dropped the prices of its Celeron processors, although we expect further changes in November. The .25 micron 500MHz part costs $143, the 466MHz part $94, and the 433MHz part $73. On the mobile front, Intel has introduced two Coppermine parts, and so dropped the price of its existing 400MHz .18 PIII/mobile, which is Gulag bound. The 500 MHz mobile costs a hefty $530, while the 450 MHz mobile costs a not quite so hefty $348. The existing 400MHz part also costs $348. These will be seen in ultra slim notebooks and use ball grid array technology to connect to notebook mobos. Again as expected, Chipzill introduced its i840 workstation/server chipset. Intel made a definitive statement that the i820 will be introduced this year rather than next. In the meanwhile, the new desktop processors use the 810E chipset and the 440BX/ZX chipsets -- if you can get hold of them. They're on allocation. And Chipzilla also confirmed the change in nomenclature to help manufacturers, distributors and dealers tell the difference between Pentium IIIs running at .25 micron and those at .18 micron. The E designation applies to .18 micron while the B designation applies to processors which can make use of a 133MHz system bus. However, while PC manufacturers and the channel may find these designations helpful in steering through the minefield of 90 or so Pentium based chips which Intel currently sells, consumers will have no such luck. There will be no huge Coppermine branding exercise by either Intel or its PC customers in the run up to Christmas, so the best thing to do if you are buying a machine is to carefully note the details above and ask the sales people whether the PC or PCs you are buying are Coppermine enabled, how much cache they have, and whether they use the 133MHz front side bus. If they don't know or are unwilling to tell you, think carefully. Various sites and magazines which have signed the non disclosure agreements are already reporting performance increases of up to 25 per cent on the new Coppermine parts. Even though we can now leave Coppermine alone, it will only be for a little while. We still believe that a 800MHz Coppermine Pentium III is imminent and sources within Intel tell us that the speeds will continue to ramp. ® Related stories Mesh PC spec confirms Coppermine features Dabs Direct also jumps gun on Intel Coppermines

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