The Intel Pentium III platform is without a doubt the bread and butter of the current business PC market. All the major vendors offer Pentium III solutions, and the chip's flexibility allows myriad configurations -- from basic, integrated systems all the way to high-end, dual-processor workstations. Even with Intel's new Pentium 4 and AMD's Athlon providing competition, the Pentium III still accounts for a hefty percentage of today's most popular and powerful business systems.
Currently, the Intel 815E chipset is the base for the most popular business P-III platforms, supporting integrated video for value configurations and dedicated AGP video for more performance-oriented systems. Intel's 810 line of chipsets is also a popular choice, but their reliance on integrated video limits them mostly to the value sector. Both of these chipsets support basic PC133 SDRAM.
At the higher end, you'll find many Pentium III workstations equipped with Intel's 840 chipset in either single- or dual-processor designs. Like the i820, the i840 is an RDRAM-based chipset designed for higher-end configurations.
In terms of third-party chipsets, VIA Technologies leads the pack with its popular Apollo Pro 133/A, which is an excellent mix of both value and performance. For higher-end systems using DDR memory, VIA offers the Apollo Pro266 chipset; for the integrated market, the VIA ProSavage PM133 includes onboard AGP video, sound, modem, and network features.
SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) also spans the memory spectrum with its 635 (DDR) and 633 (SDR) performance chipsets, along with the highly integrated SiS 630. ALi (Acer Labs Inc.) checks in with its performance-oriented Aladdin Pro-5 chipset, which supports both SDRAM and DDR RAM through a dual-mode memory controller. ALi also produces integrated solutions, but the latter's older feature sets don't compare well to the newer offerings from VIA or SiS.
The transition to Pentium III DDR chipsets may have been a bit premature, especially since the highest-speed Pentium III is currently 1GHz and the 133MHz SDR system bus is perfectly matched to the PC133 specification. Moving to a Pentium III DDR solution does have its advantages, but the processor does not have the sheer bandwidth requirements of the Athlon or Pentium 4 CPUs. Future Pentium III Tualatin processors (see below) may have an enhanced dual- or quad-pumped system bus, which would make them far better candidates for the DDR platform.
One of the more interesting aspects of the Pentium III is its role in multiprocessor workstations. Given that Intel's existing Pentium 4 and Celeron CPUs don't support multiprocessing, and that AMD has yet to formally introduce its 760MP chipset for Athlon and Duron chips, this leaves the Pentium III as the de facto choice for SMP x86 workstations. The most popular chipset for this platform is the i840 with RDRAM, although the older i820/RDRAM combination is also found with some regularity. VIA Technologies is looking to make a dent in Intel sales here with the Apollo Pro 133A/PC133 SDRAM platform, at least at the lower end of the multiprocessor market. Niche workstation players such as Serverworks also offer multiprocessor solutions, but have yet to make a splash with vendors.
The Tualatin Emerges
As you may have read last week, Intel has formally announced its ability to produce processor wafers using an 0.13-micron die size. Moreover, the processor wafer itself has been enlarged, which should result in a much lower cost to produce each CPU. This is important because the upcoming Pentium III Tualatin will be produced on this newer 0.13 micron core, as will the Pentium 4 Northwood processors.
Although the 0.13-micron core can reputedly reach speeds of 2GHz or higher, Intel has only announced speeds up to 1.2GHz for the Pentium III Tualatin. This may be just a starting point, although rumors have been circulating concerning problems with the Tualatin reaching higher clock speeds. Gleaning information from Intel roadmap data and third-party chipset announcements, Tualatin memory support is expected to include SDRAM, DDR RAM, and perhaps RDRAM as well. Due to its smaller die size, the Tualatin's core voltage will be lower, likely hitting the 1.2V-1.3V level.
As for chipsets, Intel has already released a specification update to the 815EP, stating that the chipset will not support 0.13-micron Pentium III processors. The company's 2001 chipset roadmap seems to indicate that the existing 815E will be enhanced to the new i815E Almador design, although Intel is expected to release at least one "bridge" 0.13-micron Pentium III for existing motherboard platforms. This may be similar to the Slot 1 Coppermines, which were produced for the upgrade market but quickly phased out in favor of the newer FC-PGA package.
ALi has also announced the ALADDiN-PRO 5T chipset, which will support the new Tualatin core. Like ALi's AMD chipsets, the 5T design includes the innovative dual SDR/DDR memory controller. SiS has also joined the party with "T" variants of its 633 and 635 chipsets.
Based on the latest Intel roadmap update, the Pentium III T seems to be positioned mainly as a mobile solution, powered by the Intel 830M chipset. Future roadmaps may formalize the Tualatin desktop focus, or this may be a planned move by Intel to promote the upcoming Pentium 4 Northwood for business systems and workstations, especially once SDRAM and DDR RAM chipsets become available.
Still, there are several references to the i815E Almador and 3rd party chipsets, so the Pentium III T seems to have a place (albeit a limited one) in Intel's desktop plans. The conspicuous absence of the Celeron in the 2001 roadmap may point towards the Pentium III becoming the value and midrange choice, with the Pentium 4 serving the high end.
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