Intel today introduced a 1.4Ghz flavour of the Pentium III, complete with 512kb of L2 cache - twice that of all but the immediate Tualatin predecessors - for workhorse servers.

Built on the 0.13micron production line, the new chip is faster (20 per cent), smaller and cheaper to produce than previous PIIIs. And, temptingly, for Web hosting companies especially, the new chip consumes 40 per cent less power - less likely to overheat = more reliability and cheaper electricity bills.

Intel reckons it'll go down a bomb in the emerging ultra-dense server market and names Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, Hewlett Packard, IBM and NEC as customers likely to launch servers based on the new chip this quarter.

In large trays, the new PIII costs $315.

Intel is supporting the PIII 1.4Ghz chip with two new server boards, one of which is dual -processor, and a new server chassis. You can find out more about Intel server components - or 'building blocks' in company parlance here. ®