Intel Mobile Pentium III Processor-M Takes the Stage

After all of the roadmaps and pre-announcement announcements, it's no wonder that when a new processor comes out, no one really gets too excited about it. This scenario certainly applies to Intel announcements. People don't say "Wow, that's really cool." Instead we say "Oh, that one. I thought you guys were already shipping it." After much murmuring, Intel Corp. yesterday told all of those in attendance at its presentation here in San Francisco (as well as the rest of the world) about mobile processors based on its 0.13-micron (130 nanometer) process. The new family of Intel Pentium III Processor-M products are now available at speeds up to 1.13 GHz. Intel says that the processors eat up 40 percent less power and are up to 20 percent faster than the previous 180 (0.18-micron) nanometer chips. The mobile Pentium III processor-M has a 512 kB L2 cache, a new Data Prefetcher (an L2 cache enhancement) and a 133-MHz processor system bus. Probably the most interesting part of the presentation was about Intel's new SpeedStep technology, which the company says automatically switches between Maximum Performance Mode and Battery Optimized Mode based on the application demand on the processor. In other words, it's supposed to use only as much power as it needs to based on what you're doing with your computer. The demonstration made SpeedStep look promising, but I'd like to see some tests from outside of Intel. You don't want to be running your laptop at full bore all the time, but you don't want apps to slow down because they're not getting enough power.

A gaggle of PC makers are now pushing mobile computers that use the new chips, including Acer, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, NEC, Sony, and Toshiba. Intel also talked about the Intel 830 chipset family. The Intel 830MP supports external graphics and is available as we speak. Later this year, Intel will put out the Intel 830M with integrated graphics, and an Intel 830MG that will offer lower-level integrated graphics for cheaper systems. In 1,000-unit quantities, with either micro-flip-chip Ball Grid Array or micro-flip-chip Pin Grid Array packaging, the mobile Pentium III processor-M at 1.13 GHz, 1.06 GHz, 1.0 GHz, 933 MHz, and 866 MHz are priced at $625, $499, $394, $278 and $247, respectively. In 1,000- unit quantities, the Intel 830MP chipset is priced at $37.50. You'd think that for such a big announcement, they would have taken pains to keep from running out of (caffeineated) coffee, especially since they didn't really tell us anything that we couldn't have gotten from the press release. Plus, they held out on the food to keep us kicking tires at the laptop vendor displays. Also, as an insider's note, the restrooms in the Ritz Carlton meeting area (where the announcement took place yesterday morning) have neither paper towels nor electric hand dryers. They have stacks of rolled up terry cloth hand towels that you throw in a hamper after you use them (very hoity). The reason I mention this is that those little towels make really good wrist rests for your mouse hand. I guess that's another new product announcement.