Chips: Intel Introduces New Celeron Processor for Basic PCs; Major PC Manufacturers Announce Systems Monday

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, June 15, 1998

Intel Corporation Monday introduced the Intel Celeron processor 300 MHz, the second member of that processor family designed to meet the core computing and affordability needs of the sub-$1,200 Basic PC market segment.

The new Intel Celeron processor provides balanced performance for many of today's applications, ranging from standard business programs to educational titles for consumers. Several leading PC manufacturers are announcing systems based on this processor, including Acer, Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Packard Bell NEC and Sony.

"The Intel Celeron processor 300 MHz brings a new level of performance to Basic PCs," said Paul Otellini, executive vice president, Intel Architecture Business Group. "This processor brings more processing power to business and consumer Basic PC users, while delivering the quality, value and compatibility that users expect from Intel."

The Intel Celeron processor 300 MHz delivers up to 11 percent more performance than the Intel Celeron processor 266 MHz, and up to 35 percent more performance than Pentium processor with MMX technology-based systems, many of which are offered in the Basic PC market today. Product Features, Price and Availability

Based on the same P6 microarchitecture as today's Pentium II processors, the Intel Celeron processor 300 MHz is supported by the Intel 440EX AGPset, an AGPset designed specifically for the Basic PC market. The 440EX AGPset supports up to 256 MB of memory and is well-suited for a broad range of Basic PC motherboard designs.

In 1,000-unit quantities, the Intel Celeron processor 300 MHz costs $159, and the 266 MHz version costs $106. Boxed Intel Celeron processors and the accompanying MU440EX Micro ATX motherboards are also now available for Intel product dealers and resellers.

Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com.