Intel Debuts New Processors

Intel Corp. today announced four new processors (previously codenamed Prescott) that are built on the company's high-volume 90-nanometer manufacturing technology. They are among six new offerings in Intel's line of desktop chips.

Intel's 90-nm process technology is built exclusively on 300-mm wafers. The chip maker's family of Intel Pentium 4 processors supporting HT Technology keep the PC responsive while processing other tasks in the background. For example, an IT department can run background applications such as continuous virus scanning, encryption or compression simultaneously, while minimizing disruption for other business users in the same computing environment.

In addition to the four processors manufactured on the 90-nm process, Intel added two other chips that are 3.40 GHz versions of the Intel Pentium 4 processor supporting HT Technology based on Intel's 0.13-micron process technology. The slowest chip runs at 2.8 GHz, includes 1-MB of cache and an 800-MHz front-side bus and sells for $178. The other three, which have the identical FSB and cache, have clock speeds of 3, 3.2 and 3.4 GHz, and sell for $218, $278, and $417, respectively.