In
the wings waiting to appear in the mid-range computer segment is Intel's
next new 32-bit chip architecture, code-named Willamette. Until recently
less has been known about this new processor due to the focus on the
new IA-64 Itanium, and the progressively faster Coppermine Pentium III
chips. However, on the eve of the February 15th Intel Developer Forum
in Palm Springs, where Willamette will be introduced, details about
the possible new "Pentium IV" have started to leak out. Here is a look
at what to expect.
Intel's Pat Gelsinger has claimed that Willamette will debut at speeds
"well in excess of one GHz." This is likely to mean the processor will
first be offered in speeds ranging from 1GHz to 1.4GHz. Slated to be
released after the Itanium in the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2000, Willamette
will be based on an entirely new P7 architecture, using a 423-pin modified
Socket 370 design and Intel's 0.18-micron process. This is the first
new chip design since the P6 or Pentium Pro chip, introduced in 1995,
which has been used for the Pentium II, Pentium III, Celeron and Xeon
processors in all their variations. This new architecture will run most
of the same software and share many features with its older sibling,
and, if things go as planned, will replace it by the end of 2001.
The processor's system bus will likely run at 200 MHz, equivalent to
the current AMD Athlon, and significantly faster than the 133-MHz bus
on the current Pentium IIIs. The bus will also will be expanded from
64-bits to 128-bits. The chip will come with a new set of SIMD (single
instruction, multiple data) multimedia instructions currently called
WPNI or Willamette Processor New Instructions (possible renamed to SSE-II
on introduction). These improved instructions will be a vigorous nod
to the broadband future, since they are used to enhance the processing
of multimedia data such as video and animation.
The Willamette processor will work in conjunction with a new chipset
code-named Tehama that will support both Rambus DRAM, with a high-performance
bus faster than the current Pentium III 133MHz, and the increasingly
popular Double Data Rate (DDR) memory.
Since the Coppermine Pentium IIIs are expected to top out somewhere
around 1GHz before the end of the year, Willamette-based machines will
be Intel's main answer to the continued AMD Athlon speed race in the
high-end desktop and mid-range workstation arenas.
