Intel will assign its 90nm desktop and mobile Pentium and Celeron processors to 300, 500 and 700 series under its anticipated new naming scheme, according to Taiwanese reports.

Unnamed PC makers cited by DigiTimes say the naming scheme will be launched next quarter.

The launch will see the 2.8GHz Prescott Pentium 4 renamed the P4 520, the 3GHz will become the 530 and the 3.2GHz model the 540. Celeron chips will become 300-series parts, the 90nm Pentium M - aka Dothan - will take on the 700-series classification.

The DigiTimes leak almost certainly shows relative performance for 800MHz FSB Prescott its unclear what figure the 533MHz FSB versions score, or the P4 Extreme Edition with its 2MB of L3 cache, for that matter.

Intel's scheme is intended to provide a better clue to performance than clock frequency by taking into account cache sizes, frontside bus speeds and other architectural features, such as HyperThreading. So it is taking a leaf from AMD's book, which adopts a similar naming strategy for the Opteron family's 200, 400 and 800-series classifications, and performance ratings for the Athlon XP/64.

Intel is expected to debut the new names with the arrival of Dothan, and then extend it to other chips over time. ®

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