It took Intel several months to bring Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processors 3.20GHz to the market. Now there are Prescott chips available for pre-order, the industry wonders whether the world’s largest chipmaker is able to deliver Prescott and Extreme Edition processors at exceptionally high 3.40GHz clock-speed on time and in sufficient quantities.

As revealed earlier, Intel launches its new 0.13 micron and 90nm microprocessors on the 2^nd of February. The record of new desktop microprocessors to be formally unveiled on the mentioned date includes 4 Prescott processors with 1MB of L2 cache, 800MHz Quad Pumped Bus, SSE3, HT technology, running at 3.40GHz, 3.20GHz, 3.00GHz and 2.80GHz; Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor at 3.40GHz with 2MB cache, 800MHz QPB and HT technology; Intel Pentium 4 Northwood with 512KB cache at 3.40GHz; Intel Pentium 4 2.80A processor with 533MHz PSB, 1MB of cache, SSE3, based on Prescott core, but without HT technology.

This is not a secret that Intel’s highly-anticipated processors usually appear on sale weeks before official launch. Keeping in mind that Intel shipped bunch of its 90nm Prescott Pentium 4 processors back in the fourth quarter of 2003, it is not a surprise that now these 90nm parts start to emerge in various stores around the world. The question is which chips are actually available (those are processors supplied in Q4)?

According to OverClockers.co.uk web-store, currently you can pre-order Pentium 4 “Prescott” processors at 2.80GHz, 3.00GHz and 3.20GHz. No 3.40GHz Pentium 4 “Prescott” CPUs and no 3.40GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processors that officially debut on the very same 2^nd of February. As the parts are not listed even for pre-order, it may mean they are not available in stock now or are not expected to emerge on the mentioned date.

Being pretty exclusive and luxurious offering, the Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor 3.20GHz was in exceptionally tight-supply late last year. After the first showcase of such chips at IDF Fall 2003 in September, Intel formally launched them in early November and could deliver the chips to retail and its customers only in late November or even early December, bringing sufficient quantities of high-end SKUs in more than two months after the initial demonstration.

May the actual release of 3.40GHz CPUs be pushed at a later date too?