Intel brings 533MHz FSB to Mobile P4

Intel today extended its mobile Pentium 4 family with faster clock frequencies and a 533MHz frontside bus, as anticipated. The launch follows reductions to the prices of older mobile P4s earlier this week.

The 533MHz bus models are dubbed 'Mobile Pentium 4' processors, rather than the existing members of the family, all called 'Mobile Pentium 4-M' chips, with a 400MHz FSB. In come parts clocked at 2.4GHz, 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz and 3.06GHz. Intel has also introduced a 2.6GHz Pentium 4-M. All are fabbed at 0.13 micron and contain 512KB of on-die L2 cache.

The 533MHz FSB is a significant power drain, it seems, with the 2.66GHz version consuming "under 4.5W" while its 400MHz FSB equivalent consumes "under 2W". The 533MHz FSB chips have a core voltage of 1.525V, compared to the 400MHz FSB part's 1.3V. No wonder the chips are aimed at the desktop replacement sector of the notebook market.

But there's no doubt which FSB Intel expects buyers to want. The Mobile Pentium 4 chips are priced at $417, $278, $218 and $186, for the 3.06, 2.8, 2.66 and 2.4GHz parts, respectively. The 2.6GHz Mobile Pentium 4-M costs $562.

The current 2.5GHz P4-M is now priced at just $348, a reduction of 38 per cent. The 2.4GHz version costs $241, down 31 per cent on the previous price, $348. The 2.2GHz chip is 18 per cent cheaper, down from $241 to $198. The 2GHz and 1.9GHz P4-Ms both stay at $198.

Intel admitted that the 2.6GHz P4-M will be the "final speed enhancement" in that line. It also introduced today the final Mobile Celeron, at 2.4GHz. It costs $149. The 2.2GHz version is now priced at $134, down ten per cent from $149. The 2GHz chip costs $112, a reduction of 16 per cent from its previous price, $134. The $96 1.8GHz part used to cost $112, a fall of 14 per cent. It's now the same price as the 1.7GHz Mobile Celeron.

The Mobile Celeron line is expected to be upgraded later this year with a version based on the current Mobile Pentium M, aka Banias.

The chip giant introduced two chipsets to support the 533MHz FSB Mobile P4: the 855GME and the 855PM, priced at $45 and $35, respectively. Both chipsets provide 266MHz and 333MHz DDR SDRAM support. The 855GME integrates Extreme Graphics 2. ®