Intel introduces Pentium D processor and new PC platforms

Intel has made its long awaited announcement of new PC platforms. The company has unveiled two such platforms for the home and the office.

The platform strategy, combining both hardware and software, is part of a general reorganisation dating from the beginning of the year. It follows the successful platform strategy of the notebook division based on Centrino technology.

As with notebooks, the PC platforms will bundle together Intel’s latest microprocessors, chipsets, communications and software technologies.

For home PCs, Intel has developed technologies to improve the experience of multimedia. The new technologies include the Intel Pentium D processor, the company’s first dual core design for the desktop and 945 Express Chipset series.

The home PCs also have the option of High Definition Audio that supports up to 7.1 surround-sound and the ability to send multiple audio streams to multiple rooms or devices in the home simultaneously through the PC’s output jacks. Intel is also introducing the new Graphics Media Accelerator 950, 3-D graphics performance that claims to be twice as fast as previous versions although Intel will still have to go some to match the latest offerings from ATi and NVidia.

For the business user, the Intel Professional Business Platform is targeted at the office desktop and is based around the new 945G Express Chipset and the snappily titled Pentium 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading Technology 600 sequence. This is not a dual core Pentium although Intel expects several OEMs to offer the dual core part even though they are not part of Intel’s Stable Image Platform Program (SIPP).

Although this might suggest that Intel is not confident about the dual core design, it is actually part of the company’s strategy not to deliver too much technology at once. The SIPP was introduced by Intel two years ago with the guarantee that the hardware and driver image of the platform will not change for at least 12 months from the start date of the program to make inventory and version control easier for network managers.

Also on offer as part of the Professional Business platform are Active Management Technology, which is designed will help IT staff to monitor and install security patches or diagnose problems for all Intel AMT-enabled PCs on their networks even if they are switched off or have a failed hard drive or operating system.

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.