Monday, October 16, 2000		Article

Look out! It's better and cheaper!

There is good news and there's bad news. Computer buffs are delighted over the launch of a P III - 1000 MHz (1 GHz) processor in this part of the country. But the euphoria is accompanied by news that has dampened spirits. The bad news is that the Intel has priced its P III 1GHz higher than it next generation Pentium 4 processor scheduled for launch later this month.

The world's largest chip manufacturer is targeting India as a major consumer to push its P III 1 GHz chip. All Intel dealers in the region have received instructions to set up demo models with 1 GHz processors based kit for demo purposes. Each 1 GHz based machine is expected to cost around Rupees one lakh. The price of Intel P III 1 GHz processor in the international market is US $669 (about Rs 31,000) but would sells in India for about Rs 57,000.

Simultaneously, Intel has also released the pricing for its Pentium 4 1.3 and 1.4 GHz processors. The Pentium 1.3 GHz processor is expected to cost US $635 (about Rs 30,000) and 1.4 GHz US $805 (about Rs 38,000).

With P III (1 GHz) priced lower than the Pentium 4 (1.3 GHz) some would like to wait for the Pentium 4 rather than rush in for the P III (1GHz). The new Pentium 4 processor will, however, work on RAMBUS memories which are, at present, much more expensive than the SDRAMs used by the P III processors.

Even if the price of P III and Pentium 4 works out to be more or less then same due higher pricing of RAMBUS, Pentium 4 has the advantage of being a generation ahead of P III. — TNS