New P4 Chip for "Gamers"

Wed Sep 17, 2003 9:11 am

Got this while surfing GotFrag.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - Intel Corp. will release a new processor targeted at gamers and PC enthusiasts that will be available within the next month or two, an executive said on Tuesday.

The new Pentium® 4 Extreme Edition will run at 3.2 gigahertz and come with an additional 2 megabytes of cache, Louis Burns, vice president and co-general manager of Intel's desktop platforms group, said in his keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum.

The new chip will include Intel's new Hyper-Threading technology that enables PCs to run multiple programs without any degradation to performance, he said.

Intel has long supported the gaming market as a forum to show off the capabilities of its chips. Intel is a key sponsor of the Cyberathlete Professional League.

hmm.. sounds interestering... the only real difference sounds like the 2mb of "extra cache."

Source: http://www.gotfrag.com/?node=comnews&id=4836&x=

Wed Sep 17, 2003 9:38 am

Aye, question is how much extra are they charging for those 2 extra megs of cache?

Wed Sep 17, 2003 9:47 am

Very good question. I guess we will have to wait and see. Until then, i provide you with this very heavily modified logo for the Extreme chip.. (sarcasm)

Wed Sep 17, 2003 9:55 am

Originally posted by Ryan
Very good question. I guess we will have to wait and see. Until then, i provide you with this very heavily modified logo for the Extreme chip.. (sarcasm)

hey thats not all that bad looking.

Wed Sep 17, 2003 10:14 am

The cache cost of the chip is a very $$ part, we'll see what they do with the price.

Wed Sep 17, 2003 11:49 am

I think I would rather wait for the new prescotts instead of spending money on the "extreme edition" p4.

Intel is only releasing the extreme edition because the regular p4s are going to get trampled on by AMD's new athlon 64 processors coming out shortly.

Wed Sep 17, 2003 12:01 pm

I have enjoyed the P4 family since the 1.6A(the Willy cores plain sucked). Their overclockability is just amazing.

Thgat said, i have never been a 'fanboy' of one maker. When I upgrade, I always get what I feel is the best bang for the buck(which includes many factors, like overclockability). Only time will tell if the Prescott has the power to fight the A64.

Wed Sep 17, 2003 12:25 pm

This sounds like marketing to me... advertise it to gamers, who -as a group- are notorious for overpaying for computers and components that are "for gaming"... (Alienware, anyone?)

I'll wait to see some performance figures and the price... and then wait some more for whatever AMD counters with for a comparison...

Wed Sep 17, 2003 3:56 pm

I don't think AMD is going to counter per say. I think "their" counter is the A64.

Wed Sep 17, 2003 4:00 pm

It is simply intel releasing a proc so that they are still the top performer.

Wed Sep 17, 2003 4:12 pm

Erhmm.. Found this the other day while surfing Neowin.net

Seems these new AMD 64bit processors will NOT be able to run with 64 bits.. interetesring. The 64 bit will be there, but non functional.

AMD's upcoming Athlon 64 low-end variants, codenamed 'Paris' and 'Victoria', will not be offered as 64-bit processors but as 32-bit upgrades to the current Athlon XP line. So claims Xbit Labs, having glanced at the chip maker's latest roadmaps. Paris and Victoria emerged earlier this year, when they were revealed to be cut-down versions of the Athlon 64. At the time, it was assumed that was simply a matter of their smaller, 256KB L2 cache. Paris will be fabbed at 130nm, and is due to ship sometime during Q4 2003. Victoria will debut late Q2 or early Q3 2004.

However, it now appears that the chips will not operate in 64-bit mode. The Athlon 64 supports three modes of operation: 32-bit 'legacy' mode, dual 32/64-bit 'compatibility' mode and pure 64-bit mode. The last two require a 64-bit OS, and are essentially sub-modes of the chip's 64-bit 'long' mode. If Xbit Labs' report is correct, Paris and Victoria will be limited to 'legacy' mode.

I love my Intel

Wed Sep 17, 2003 4:45 pm

I don't know about this whole new 64 bit computing stuff... if the computer and software makers overcommit to it, I think it will bite them in the ass...

Most businesses (the majority of computer buyers) are pretty satisfied with their systems, I think, and will be highly reluctant to shell out big bucks for the latest thing (that will require all new hardware, software and the like) when what they have is adequate... sure there will be a few that upgrade right away, but not like in the past... prudent businesses (the way to be in the current economy) will probably wait...

Wed Sep 17, 2003 5:18 pm

I agree with you.

Thats the big thing going around now. Most home users are reluctnat to upgrade. What do most home users use their computers to do? E-Mail, and Internet. A low end PC can EASLIY do the tasks that 75% of home computer users need!