PENTIUM UPGRADE PROCESSOR JUGGLES PRICE, PERFORMANCE. (INTEL CORP. TO DEBUT P24T COPROCESSOR IN LATE 1994)

By Neal Boudette
322 words
18 April 1994
PC Week
12
English
Copyright Ziff-Davis Publishing Company 1994

PC managers looking to boost 486 machines to Pentium power should get the hardware they need from Intel Corp. by the end of the year.

Within six to eight months, Intel expects to release the P24T Pentium-based upgrade processor that sparked heated controversy last summer.

However, user interest in the chip depends on a delicate balance of price and performance. The processor is expected to arrive with a price between $600 and $850 and offer about the same performance as a 60MHz Pentium chip, according to analysts.

"If it's under $500, it's within range," said George Plesko, a researcher for Northeastern University in Boston, who must wait several minutes for his 486 PC to recalculate economic models. "But you have to look at performance, too. If it takes 5 minutes on a 486 and 3 minutes with the upgrade, you still wait."

The chip is based on the 3.3-volt core used in Intel's 60/90MHz Pentium chip, said Mike Fister, general manager of Intel's End User Components Division, in Folsom, Calif. The processor includes an on-chip fan for cooling and a built-in voltage regulator that allows it to work in 5-volt PCs, Fister said.

Heat waves

The P24T was the center of controversy last summer over heat problems and the reliability of some PC designs. Intel now certifies PCs for their ability to handle heat generated by the P24T.

In related news, Intel last week released a 25/50MHz 486SX2-based OverDrive chip that lists for $249. The chip gives 25MHz 486SX PCs about a 70 percent increase in performance in applications such as WordPerfect and Excel, Fister said.

Intel also cut $100 from the prices of its 25/50MHz and 33/66MHz 486DX2 OverDrive chips. They now list for $369 and $499, respectively.

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