Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2001/03/19/intel_beats_amd_to_1ghz/

Intel beats AMD to 1GHz mobile

Gigglehurts wars in miniature

By Mike Magee

Posted in Channel, 19th March 2001 10:53 GMT

As exclusively predicted here in July last year, Intel duly introduced its 1GHz mobile Pentium III, a 0.18 micron number which a rack of tier-one vendors rushed to support.

The chip, which uses Speedstep technology, will appear in 20 notebooks from the likes of Dell, Gateway, HP, Compaq and so forth.

This may well be a tough act for rival AMD to follow, in the short term, that is.

At the same time, and again as predicted here last year, Chipzilla launched a 900MHz PIII mobile processor and a 750MHz Celeron mobile.

Intel said the 1GHz PIII is "50 times" faster than the first mobile chip it introduced, and runs at 1.35 volts. If only the operating system was 50 times faster - but then Intel doesn't make that bit.

Again, as revealed here, Intel is supplying boxed versions of its PIII to its system integrator customers. This move is long overdue, and was first promised by the mobile division at the firm quite some moons back.

Intel agrees with our pricing for the parts. The 1GHz and 900MHz chips cost $722 and $562, while the Celeron mobile only costs $170. You have to buy a thousand of each of these parts to get those prices.

PC manufacturers have been readying themselves for these introductions for some months now, meaning that if you keep your eyes skinned, you'll see some relative bargains.

Although the mobile Pentium III roadmap at .18 micron has a little way to go, Intel's big move later this year will be to intro its Tualatin .13 micron technology into the mobile market.

Now it's AMD's turn to see if it can leapfrog Intel on the mobile front - as we pointed out towards the end of last year - this is much harder in the notebook market than on the desktop. ®

See Also

Intel notebooks to top 1GHz
Intel cranks up mobile CPU to 1GHz
Intel's notebook prices, strategy for 2001
Intel boxes clever on mobiles, desktop chipsets
Pentium 4 notebooks on way
Notebook price wars to flare up in 2001
AMD blows Intel into the mobile weeds
Intel mobile plans for next nine months unfold