Intel Launches New Pentium IIIs

This morning, Intel took the lead once more in the processor race against rival AMD. With the launch of the 733MHz Pentium III a few weeks ago, Intel looked as though it was poised to wrap up 1999 with the fastest PC processor. A few weeks later, though, AMD replied by shipping its 750MHz Athlon earlier than expected. Intel's counterstrike came this morning with the announcement of 750 and 800MHz versions of its Pentium III processor, neither of which was expected to launch this year. The P3-750 was originally due in the first week of January, while the P3-800 was scheduled to ship in February.

"Intel's Pentium III processor is the fastest microprocessor in the desktop PC market segment," said Intel VP Paul Otellini. "We are committed to delivering the highest-performance processors and platform solutions to our customers."

Built on a .18 micron process with a 100MHz frontside bus and 256kb of full speed L2 cache, these new processors share the same innards of the earlier Coppermines. The 750MHz processor costs US$803 in quantities of 1,000, while the 800 runs at $851 in the same quantities. Certain systems integrators are currently stocking systems based on these two processors. Intel expects to ramp up production by January.