Intel to roll out Tualatin

Ushering in the first of many processors built on a smaller, 0.13-micron architecture, Intel next Monday will formally introduce its Tualatin chip, a Pentium III processor that runs cooler and uses less power than its predecessors, an Intel spokesperson said.

The Tualatin chip will likely debut at two speeds, 1.13GHz and 1.26GHz, according to sources familiar with the chip maker's plans.

Current Intel processors, including the Pentium 4, Pentium III, Celeron, and Xeon chips, are built to a slightly larger 0.18-micron architecture.

Tualatin chips, with their smaller transistor relays, will be able to operate not only at higher clock speeds but will also perform at cooler temperatures while consuming less power than 0.18-micron chips, Intel officials said.

Such performance makes Tualatin ideal for mobile computers and other systems that require cool, low-power operation, such as server blades, Intel officials said.

Several PC vendors, including Compaq and Toshiba, have already pledged to ship the first Tualatin chips in their mobile products when the processor becomes available. Dell, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and other computer makers that offer the latest Intel processors to their customers will likely follow suit.

Industry analysts expect Tualatin to become a formidable contender in the low-power, low-heat processor market, taking on competitor's such as Transmeta's low-power Crusoe processor and 0.13-micron chips currently being engineered by Advanced Micro Devices in the company's Dresden, Germany, facility. AMD's 0.13-micron chips could hit the market before year's end, an industry source said.

Intel will begin to transition its Pentium 4 line of desktop processors to 0.13-micron sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, an Intel spokesperson said.

The first 0.13-micron Pentium 4 chips will likely arrive at speeds of 2 GHz and 2.2 GHz. By mid-2002, Intel will offer a Pentium 4 running at 2.4 GHz, according to sources.

Experts believe Intel's desktop PC line of Pentium III chips will slowly begin to be phased out as the chip maker proceeds with its Pentium 4 road map. The Pentium III name will remain as a mobile brand as generations of the Tualatin chip roll out.

A mobile Pentium 4 chip, built to 0.13-micron specs and running at 1.5 GHz should arrive from Intel in early 2002, sources said.

In 2003, Intel will deliver a new mobile chip architecture, possibly code-named Banias, a source said.

Intel is at www.intel.com

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