Intel unveils 3.2GHz Pentium 4

By Alun Williams

Posted on 23 Jun 2003 at 12:42

Intel has announced a new Pentium 4 processor. Incorporating Hyper-Threading - Intel's support for virtual parallel processing - it operates at a clock speed of 3.2GHz with an 800MHz bus speed and a 512KB Level 2 cache.

The new chip is priced at $637, based on 1,000 unit quantities. It's emergence follows Intel's rejig of desktop processor prices at the end of May.

AMD's response to this new top-of-the range Pentium will be the Athlon64, which is officially due to appear in September, or even August according to sources.

By this time, Intel should be unveiling its own next-generation processor - the successor to the Pentium 4, which is code-named 'Prescott'. Indeed, there is speculation that this latest release from Intel could be the last in the traditional Pentium line.