Intel will later this year offer an updated version of its recently released i925X 'Alderwood' that supports a 1066MHz frontside bus.

The chipset, to be called the i925XE, is set to ship in the Q4 2004 timeframe, according to roadmaps shown by motherboard maker ABIT at its 2004 Technology Talk last week.

The i925XE will be offered with the ICH-6R and ICH-6W South Bridge chipsets Intel unveiled when it formally launched Alderwood and its mid-range sibling, 'Grantsdale', last weekend.

ABIT will use the chipset in the Pentium 4 member of a new line of gamer-oriented motherboards named after celebrated first-person shooter star Fatal1ty. The P4-based AA8 Fatal1ty will be accompanied by the AN8 Fatal1ty, a Socket 939 AMD Athlon 64-based mobo.

The 1066MHz bus will first appear in a 3.46GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition during Q3, and in the 90nm P4EE 720 - clocked at 3.73GHz - in Q4. It's not yet clear when the faster FSB will be added to regular Pentium 4 5xx chips, but it is expected to be incorporated into the Xeon line next year with the arrival of the 'Blackford' and 'Greencreek' chipsets. ®

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