Pentium Pro Moves to the Desktop

With Pentium competition increasing, Intel is now preparing to make its Pentium Pro THE desktop PC processor by late 1997.

Tom R. Halfhill and Dave Andrews

Now that the Pentium microprocessor faces competition--at the high end and the low end--from Cyrix and AMD's latest x86-compatible processors, Intel is reportedly preparing new low-cost desktop versions of its Pentium Pro. Sources say Intel hopes the new Pentium Pros, code-named Klamath and Deschutes, will do what previous Intel chips, such as the 386SX and 75-MHz Pentium, did to the 286 and clock-enhanced 486 processors: bury the previous generation.

AMD's 75- and 90-MHz Pentium equivalents, the 5K86-P75 and 5K86-P90 ($75 and $99 each, respectively), offer low-cost alternatives to Intel's 75- and 90-MHz Pentiums ($10 6 and $198 each, prior to Intel price cuts expected at the end of April). In addition, AMD says it will roll out 120-, 133-, and 150-MHz Pentium equivalents throughout the year. AMD's first Pentium Pro competitor, the K6, will arrive in the first quarter of 1997.

Meanwhile, tests show Cyrix's 6x86 is a worthy high-end Pentium competitor (see the What's New Hardware Preview "Pentium Performance from Cyrix's P166+" ). Cyrix says its next 6x86, due this summer, will run at 150 MHz, have a 75-MHz (instead of a 66-MHz) memory bus, and outperform Intel's 200-MHz Pentium, which may ship in the third quarter of this year. And Cyrix says its M2 processor, slated for end-of-1996 arrival, will outperform the 200-MHz Pentium Pro. "We're at the beginning of the transition to sixth-generation processors," says Bill Blagdan, marketing director for desktop processors at Cyrix.

However, Intel needs to overcome several challenges before the Pentium Pro can make the transi tion to mass-market desktop PCs. Currently the Pentium Pro is too expensive and doesn't excel at executing 16-bit code or the mixed 16- and 32-bit code found in Win 3.x and Win 95. Intel declined to provide details on future Pentium Pros, but sources say the company will modify the Pentium Pro in several ways (see the sidebar "Four Paths to a Less Expensive Pentium Pro").

PC vendors hope Intel's anticipated modifications will help them sell more Pentium Pro-based desktop systems. "Enhancing support for 16-bit code and making the Pentium Pro more price-attractive would help stimulate demand and clearly position the Pentium Pro as the next-generation processor," says Paul Collaf, desktop-line marketing manager at Gateway 2000. "You can't increase volumes unless you address the mainstream's need."

Until that happens, however, the Pentium will remain king of the x86 desktop world. And, thanks to healthy competition, PC buyers will find plenty of Pentium PC bargains.