HP, Dell and Lenovo are among the PC makers launching business desktops using Intel Corp.'s new dual-core Pentium D processor and accompanying chip set. Intel's new technology was announced Thursday in San Francisco. The desktop processor is the second dual-core desktop chip from the Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker, and it comes less than a week before rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. launches its Athlon 64 X2 dual-core PC chip. The new platforms are designed to provide consumers the ability to do more with their digital content simultaneously, and better allow businesses to enhance PC security, system management and collaboration capabilities reports Intel.
For home PCs, Intel's Pentium D processor with two processing cores and the Intel 945 Express Chipset family with support for such consumer electronics-like features as surround-sound audio, high-definition video and enhanced graphics capabilities. With a home network and a PC based on Intel's Pentium D processor and 945 Express Chipset, multiple audio, video or gaming streams can be routed to different people in the home simultaneously.
For a new category of office PCs, Intel introduced the Intel Professional Business Platform based on the new Intel 945G Express Chipset and the optional Intel PRO/1000 PM network connection, and the recently introduced Intel Pentium® 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading (HT) Technology 600 sequence.
The Intel Pentium D processors 840, 830 and 820 are priced at $530, $316 and $241, respectively, in 1,000-unit quantities. The Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 670 is priced at $851 in 1,000-unit quantities. The Intel 945G and 945P Express Chipsets are priced at $42 and $38, respectively, in 1,000-unit quantities.
Dell's new Dimension 9100 supports either the dual-core 800 series chips or the 600 series Pentium 4 chips. Base configuration with the new 945P chip set costs $1299 with the Pentium 4 630 processor, 512MB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB hard drive, a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, a 17-inch CRT monitor, and a Radeon X300SE graphics card from ATI Technologies with 128MB of video memory. Hewlett-Packard is making the dual-core 800 processors available on several existing models in its Pavilion lineup. Lenovo Group's ThinkCentre A52 and M52 desktops will be available later this year with the dual-core processors and the new chip sets reports PC World. Systems should cost between $700 and $800, a Lenovo spokesperson said. The ThinkCentre A52 and M52 represent the first product announcement by Lenovo, less than a month after closing on the $1.75 billion deal for IBM's PC business reports eWeek
Meanwhile , Sony, Japan Intel launched two models of the "VAIO type R" desktop PC with Intel's Pentium D and the Intel 945P Express chip set. The new models will be available in Japan from June 11th. The superior model, "VGC-RA73PL9" features Pentium D 830 (3GHz), HDD 500GB (250GBx2), GeForce 6600, DVD super multiple drive, DVD-ROM drive, Windows XP Professional and a 19" clear black liquid crystal with 1,280x1,024 dot (SXGA) resolution. Expected price 350,000 Yen (~3,250USD) . You can re-encode a 8Mbp MPEG-2 into a 4Mbps using Pentium D (820) in 45 minutes. On a Pentium 4 570 (3.80GHz) it took about 54 minutes to do this.
