Intel EOLs virtualisation-friendly Pentium 4s

Intel is to discontinue production of its two Virtualisation Technology-equipped Pentium 4 processors, the 662 and 672, the chip maker has told its customers. The two 90nm, LGA-775 chips only debuted in November 2005.

Intel documentation seen by Reg Hardware doesn't reveal why the parts are being pulled, but it reveals the company won't take orders for the 662 and 672 after 1 September - orders placed after 3 July can't be cancelled. Intel will stop shipping the chips on 9 November 2007.

The 662 and 672 are clocked at 3.6GHz and 3.8GHz, respectively, and incorporate 2MB of L2 cache. Both operate across an 800MHz frontside bus. They're the only P4s that support VT - the 660 and 670 - offer the same features and speeds minus virtualisation support - and since Intel's vPro platform is primarily based on dual-core CPUs, there's presumably little need left for the VT-enabled P4s. ®