Intel reaches Pentium 4 speed limit at 3.8 GHz

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Nov 15, 20042 mins

As expected, Intel Corp. introduced a 3.8-GHz Pentium 4 processor today in what could represent the end of an era for the chip maker.

At 3.8 GHz, the Pentium 4 570 processor will have the fastest clock speed of any processor available from Intel for an indefinite period. Intel has decided to cancel a planned 4-GHz Pentium 4 processor and improve the performance of its desktop chips by adding cache memory.

Intel originally designed the Pentium 4 processor to run at ever-faster clock speeds. For years, the company planned its marketing campaigns around those increases in clock speed. However, this year Intel realized that the engineering resources required to eke out additional speed gains could be put to better use. The most recent Pentium 4 processors consume a great deal of power and can produce excessive heat within a PC, requiring additional testing and validation before they can be released.

Adding cache memory to processors is an easier way to improve processor performance — and it generates less heat, Intel said last month. Cache memory stores frequently used data close to the processor where it can be accessed much faster than data stored in the main memory chips. Starting in early 2005, Intel’s Pentium 4 chips will receive an additional 1MB of cache memory, bringing the total to 2MB.

Intel’s dual-core processors are scheduled to arrive in the second half of 2005. They will run at slower clock speeds than current single-core processors. Analysts have predicted that Intel might keep a low-end single-core processor in its product lineup heading into 2006 and bring that chip above 4 GHz at some point in the future, but Intel has not confirmed any plans to release faster chips.

The Pentium 4 570 processor will be available in Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Compaq X 5010T Gaming PC starting on Wednesday. Dell Inc. also plans to offer the processor in its Dimension XPS gaming PC.