Intel to Slice Celerons Again, Push Up 433 Launch

They do this on purpose, and it keeps a lot of suppliers in business. Here's why - 1. Intel releases a low-end chip that fits in a standard board. 2. People figure out how to make the chip/board combo perform nearly as well as the high-end chip/board combo. 3. Intel releases new format low-end chip with new board format. 4. People buy it.

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>Why do those idiots at Intel keep releasing new types of sockets >every day? Don't they have anything better to do? >rob. >>>370-pin . . . um, that means they'll run in a regular socket 7? >>Nope. It's a whole new type of socket commonly referred to as "Scoket >>370." You can read plenty about it at any of the major hardware sites on >>the Web. >>-Bill >>-- >>Bill Mette | "A person is smart. People are dumb." >>MCSNet, Chicago | - K MiB

Even as it prepares for the high-profile launch of the Pentium III, Intel continues to fortify a position at the low end by accelerating price drops on existing Celerons and pushing up the launch of a 433MHz Celeron to March, sources said. Intel told computer manufacturers this week that the recently launched Celeron 400MHz chip will drop to around $130 in quantities of 1,000 on Feb. 7. The new 366MHz Celeron will drop to $90, while the 333MHz Celeron will drop to $70 and the 300MHz Celeron will drop to $60. The prices apply to the new, 370-pin versions of the Celeron, which use a socket form factor that includes 128KB of cache on the chip. The modular versions of Celeron, in so-called single-edge processor packages (SEPP), are priced at $140 for the 400MHz, and $100 for the 366MHz. Separately, a source said Intel will introduce the 433MHz Celeron on March 21, months ahead of a previously planned June launch date. It will be priced at $168 for the 370-pin socket version, and $175 for the SEPP. The March 21 date is expected to allay concerns that launch of a new Celeron will detract from that of new Pentium IIIs, which are scheduled for Feb. 28. Intel has called the P-III launch the biggest in its history. A 450MHz and 500MHz are expected. A fall price sheet for the Celeron line did not project price cuts for any Celeron chips until April 11, when the 400MHz was to drop to $185, the 366MHz to $149, the 333MHz to $105 and the 300MHz to $95. At the January launch of the 366MHz and 400MHz Celerons, Intel acknowledged a dissatisfaction with its low-end retail market share for Celeron, and indicated a redoubled commitment to correcting it. An Intel spokesman would only say, "We certainly will move as aggressively as we can in that part of the market. You will see higher speeds earlier than expected. And it's a safe assumption that anytime you see [a company] bring out newer parts earlier, it does affect pricing on the rest of the line." The moves this week are clearly aimed at correcting Intel's low-end woes. One PC maker welcomed the moves, saying his company will aggressively market Celerons. But at the same time, he noted the market continues to be driven by K6-2. He said he's using the Celeron as a differentiator, and said the price cuts will help reduce perceptions that it's priced higher than non-Intel chips.

370-pin . . . um, that means they'll run in a regular socket 7? >Even as it prepares for the high-profile launch of the Pentium III, Intel continues to >fortify a position at the low end by accelerating price drops on existing Celerons and >pushing up the launch of a 433MHz Celeron to March, sources said. Intel told computer >manufacturers this week that the recently launched Celeron 400MHz chip will drop to around >$130 in quantities of 1,000 on Feb. 7. The new 366MHz Celeron will drop to $90, while the >333MHz Celeron will drop to $70 and the 300MHz Celeron will drop to $60. >The prices apply to the new, 370-pin versions of the Celeron, which use a socket form factor >that includes 128KB of cache on the chip. The modular versions of Celeron, in so-called >single-edge processor packages (SEPP), are priced at $140 for the 400MHz, and $100 for the >366MHz. Separately, a source said Intel will introduce the 433MHz Celeron on March 21, months >ahead of a previously planned June launch date. It will be priced at $168 for the 370-pin >socket version, and $175 for the SEPP. >The March 21 date is expected to allay concerns that launch of a new Celeron will detract using the Celeron as a

>370-pin . . . um, that means they'll run in a regular socket 7? Nope. It's a whole new type of socket commonly referred to as "Scoket 370." You can read plenty about it at any of the major hardware sites on the Web. -Bill -- Bill Mette | "A person is smart. People are dumb." MCSNet, Chicago | - K MiB

Why do those idiots at Intel keep releasing new types of sockets every day? Don't they have anything better to do? rob.

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>>370-pin . . . um, that means they'll run in a regular socket 7? >Nope. It's a whole new type of socket commonly referred to as "Scoket >370." You can read plenty about it at any of the major hardware sites on >the Web. >-Bill >-- >Bill Mette | "A person is smart. People are dumb." >MCSNet, Chicago | - K MiB

>370-pin . . . um, that means they'll run in a regular socket 7? Nope, Socket 7 is a 321 pin socket. Socket 370 is new, uses the PII bus.

Yeah, you're right, we should have stuck with 40 pin DIPs for CPUs. C'mon, guys, technology's gotta move ahead, and of course they're gonna make every dollar they can. As long as there are people out there like myself who will always pay to get the next trick, they'll keep doing it. IMHO, it's okay by me if gems like GPL come down the pipe once in a while as a result of all this. Just my ramblings on the topic. Zog

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> They do this on purpose, and it keeps a lot of suppliers in business. > Here's why - > 1. Intel releases a low-end chip that fits in a standard board. > 2. People figure out how to make the chip/board combo perform nearly as well > as the high-end chip/board combo. > 3. Intel releases new format low-end chip with new board format. > 4. People buy it. > >Why do those idiots at Intel keep releasing new types of sockets > >every day? Don't they have anything better to do? > >rob. > >>>370-pin . . . um, that means they'll run in a regular socket 7? > >>Nope. It's a whole new type of socket commonly referred to as "Scoket > >>370." You can read plenty about it at any of the major hardware sites on > >>the Web. > >>-Bill > >>-- > >>Bill Mette | "A person is smart. People are dumb." > >>MCSNet, Chicago | - K MiB

Intel has never admitted it, but the popular opinion is that when they first started developing the PII's, they couldn't get the L2 cache to run properly when it was part of the processor die. This is why they invented the Slot 1 architecture that placed the cache seperate from the CPU. Now that Intel has figured out how to reliably put the cache back on the CPU die (Celeron), they're moving back to a socket architecture. That's the technical bit. On the marketing side, socket 370 is yet another chance for Intel to***AMD and Cyrix.

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>Why do those idiots at Intel keep releasing new types of sockets >every day? Don't they have anything better to do? >>>370-pin . . . um, that means they'll run in a regular socket 7? >>Nope. It's a whole new type of socket commonly referred to as "Scoket >>370." You can read plenty about it at any of the major hardware sites on >>the Web.

-- Bill Mette | "A person is smart. People are dumb." MCSNet, Chicago | - K MiB

Yeah. Pretty soon, we'll be able to get a full set from Sears for $19.95 :) -Larry > Why do those idiots at Intel keep releasing new types of sockets > every day? Don't they have anything better to do?