Future Watch

Coming in 1998: 400-MHz PII PCs

By this time next year, Pentium II chips should be available at speeds of 400 MHz or higher, along with Pentium II versions for systems that have more than two processors and for notebooks.

Intel says the Deschutes version of the Pentium II will debut at 333 MHz early next year. It will be built on a 0.25-micron process and will reach speeds of 450 MHz by the end of next year. Sometime during the first half of 1998, Intel will release a 350- or 400-MHz version of the Pentium II th at will support a 100-MHz system bus. This chip, which will sit in a Slot 1 cartridge, will target desktops, entry-level servers, and workstations.

Around midyear, the company will introduce Pentium II processors that plug into Slot 2, which is intended for servers and accommodates a larger Level 2 cache that runs at the core clock speed of the processor. Slot 2 configurations will support a 100-MHz system bus next year, and servers based on it will scale to a minimum of four processors, company officials said.

Intel will introduce Pentium II processors for portables during the first half of 1998. These chips will be available in either a modified cartridge design (similar to slots but significantly smaller) or the Mobile Module.