Chipzilla strikes back with 800MHz PIII Xeon overclock

Intel today launched 500 and 550 MHz versions of the Pentium III Xeon chip, along with previewing "the Formula One race car of processors" – a PIII Xeon running at 800 MHz. Pat Gelsinger, Intel VP and general manager desktop products group, announced the chips to CeBIT this morning. The high-end 500MHz, 412KB, 1MB and 2MB versions for two, four and eight way servers and workstations will start shipping today. The 550MHz, 512 KB, in 1 and 2MB versions for four and eight way servers, will be available from Q2. He added that Intel had seen "a very strong and early response" to the Pentium III chip launched three weeks ago. This latest unveiling follows hard on the heels of AMD’s own high-speed chip launch earlier today. Gelsinger also outlined Intel's "vision of the E-Corporation", saying Europe was predicted to outstrip the US regarding growth in this area. By 2002, E-Commerce revenue in Western Europe will be $223 billion, compared to $6 billion last year, according to IDC quoted figures. For the US, the figures were 291 billion from $31 billion in 1998. Regarding the future, Intel unveiled knowledge management features and indexing run on an 800 MHz chip. "This can very quickly go over a GB of information and pull it down to exactly what you want to look at in seconds," said Gelsinger. He claimed this was "the fastest machine ever demonstrated in Europe. The Formula One race car of processors," adding: "This gives you some idea of the headroom in the Intel processor family." ®