Intel's fix-up chips, the new Celerons

By Richard Morochove

First published August 27, 1998

Intel doesn't make many big mistakes, but when it does it's a doozy. Several years ago, the company initially refused to replace Pentium processors that contained the math bug. This wound up costing Intel customer goodwill along with hundreds of millions of dollars.

Another mistake came when then-CEO Andy "only the paranoid survive" Grove was so determined to charge ahead and deliver the world's most powerful processors he forgot to look behind him. Competitors like AMD and Cyrix came out with less powerful and much less expensive chips, ideal for cheap home PCs.

For months Intel did nothing about these cut-rate chips, figuring the development for a short-lived brush fire it could safely ignore. Then PC sales figures for last year's holiday selling season showed the trend to cheap home PCs had grown to a raging inferno. Intel finally broke the glass and pulled the alarm.

The Celeron chip Intel launched this past Spring to fight the fire was a stripped-down version of a Pentium II processor. Unfortunately Intel left far too little meat on its processor bones. In particular, it lacked a level 2 cache memory to enhance performance.

In the face of lacklustre performance of Intel's Celeron, the small chipmakers' flame continued to burn brightly. By some estimates, Intel's chip-making competitors are now in some 60 per cent of sub-$1,000 (U.S.) home PCs, compared to only 10 per cent of the business desktop PC market.

When it comes to inexpensive home PCs, the price tag outside seems to mean more than Intel inside.

Yet Intel didn't get to its position as the world's largest manufacturer of microprocessors by making the same mistake twice. It announced three new processors earlier this week. Two are improved Celerons, running at 300 and 333 MHz. Both new Celerons include a 128KB level 2 cache.

The Celeron 300A is virtually identical to the previously-released Celeron 300, with the exception of the added cache. Although both chips have the same 300 MHz. clock speed, according to Intel the new chip runs programs up to 25 per cent faster, which clearly demonstrates the benefits of the cache.

The new Celeron remains based on the P6 microarchitecture of the Pentium II processor, with a few exceptions. For example, it does not support dual-processing.

Intel has priced both Celerons inexpensively, under $200 U.S. each in quantity, which means computers that sell for under $2,000 in Canada, excluding monitor.

Intel didn't ignore the high-end either, releasing a new Pentium II processor running at 450 MHz., about 10 per cent faster than Intel's previous top Pentium II.

As is common with Intel announcements, several PC makers quickly announced PCs using the new chips. Some are already available at local retailers.

Compaq Canada's Presario 5050 (list price $1,979) is based on the Celeron 333 MHz. processor. It comes with an 8 gigabyte hard drive, 96 MB SyncDRAM (synchronous dynamic random access memory), 32X CD and 56K v.90 modem. There are also 2x AGP (accelerated graphics port) graphics, two USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports and a game port.

IBM Canada announced the IBM PC 300GL commercial desktop, with models featuring both the Celeron 300A and 333, priced as low at $1,439.

Hewlett-Packard Canada announced a pair of low-cost machines using the new cheap chips. The HP Brio 7100 PC (list price $1,700) uses the Celeron 300a processor and comes with 32MB SDRAM, 32X Max CD, and 2.1 gigabyte hard drive.

The HP Vectra VE PC (list price $1,961) is based on the Celeron 333 and comes with 32MB SDRAM and 3.2 gigabyte hard drive.

While most PC makers are positioning the new 450 MHz. Pentium II as a chip for a high-end business system or entry-level workstation, Compaq developed an ultra-fast home computer.

Compaq Canada's new top-of-the-line home computer is the Presario 5660 (list price $4,036). It's based on the 450 MHz. Pentium II, with a 12 gigabyte hard drive, 128 MB SyncDRAM, DVD (digital video disc), 56 K v.90 modem. It comes with all the ports of the 5050, plus a digital flat panel port for the latest LCD desktop monitors and an IEEE 1394 connector.

The new IBM IntelliStation E Pro (prices start at $4,599) using the 450 MHz. Pentium II comes in several configurations with at least 64MB RAM and hard drives ranging from 4.5 to 10.1 gigabytes capacity.

The HP VectraVL PC (list price $3,908) is also based on the 450 MHz. Pentium II and comes with 64MB of SDRAM, 32X MAX CD and 6.4 gigabyte hard drive. CW