It seems that engineers from Intel Corporation manage to do wonders with their 0.13 micron fabrication technology. Initially Intel only planned that the 3.0GHz Pentium 4 processors made using this process will be the fastest CPU from the Northwood family. This summer the company said they would launch 3.20GHz chips in early 2003, still made using 0.13 micron technology. To great surprise, now some sources report that the world’s number one semiconductor developer will provide 3.40GHz Pentium 4 microprocessors next year based on the Northwood core, again increasing the top core-speed of the chips made using advanced 0.13 micron technology.

As a result of the amazing core-clocks Intel’s CPUs can achieve, the company does not need to force the 90 nanometer technology to come earlier than in the fourth quarter next year. The Pentium 4 3.20GHz accompanied by a bunch of chips with 800MHz Quad Pumped Bus and the Hyper-Threading technology enabled will meet any requirements the users may have in the second quarter, while in the third quarter the company will launch the 3.40GHz device to compete with the faster Athlon 64 CPUs. Currently there are a lot of uncertainties with the forthcoming x86-64 processors, as well as the Athlon XP “Barton” parts, therefore, Intel has all the reasons to think that with more powerful Pentium 4 chips they will be able to successfully compete and outperform the rivals in performance.

The Pentium 4 “Prescott” CPUs with 800MHz PSB, 1MB of L2 cache, Hyper-Threading II technology and manufactured using 90 nanometer process will be launched in the fourth quarter next year, bringing even higher speed to the market and becoming even stronger competitors to the Athlon 64 chips.