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Intel Shows P-II 350

Intel gives glimpse of future PC powered by a 100-MHz motherboard and 350-MHz Pentium II chip; plans to phase out ISA and serial bus.

By Shane Rau, PCWorld   

During his keynote address to the product developers who turn vaporware into real hardware and software, Intel%squots Pat Gelsinger held up a prototype motherboard which he said contained a 350-MHz Pentium II processor, a 100-MHz system bus, 100-MHz SDRAM memory, an AGP graphics card, and a 100-megabit-per-second Wake-on-LAN network controller; Intel has yet to formally announce such a processor, nor the chip set necessary for such a high-speed system bus and memory.

Gelsinger added that Intel will use the forum to make its first disclosures about RDRAM memory--the successor to SDRAM technology planned for 1999-- and would be discussing the 1394 high-speed serial interface.

Intel also announced its plan to phase out the old and familiar ISA slots, serial ports, and parallel ports of today%squots PCs. According to the company, its new Low Pin Count (LPC) Interface Specification moves control of ISA-based devices, such as the ISA slots and parallel port, off the core logic chip set onto a new, separate device. Later, the spec calls for the optional removal of ISA slots in favor of PCI slots and the removal of serial and parallel ports in favor of USB and 1394 ports.

Early in his presentation, Gelsinger enticed his audience by describing a huge untapped market that they could fill with products based on the new technologies Intel is promoting. According to Gelsinger, the PC industry has penetrated less than 14 percent of the worldwide business market and less than 10 percent of the worldwide consumer market.