As of today, Intel has officially entered 64-bit computing with its new 600 series of Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 64-bit processors supporting HT Technology. The chips are curently available in Japan and wealthy Europeans can also buy theirs online. Follow the download tab for the European retailers website.
Intel Corporation announced the availability of five new processors for desktop computers that deliver entertainment and IT benefits for consumers and businesses. When coupled with the widely adopted Intel 925/915 Express chipset family, the processors can help enable improved performance and more rapid response times for computing platforms.
Intel is now shipping the Intel Pentium 4 Processor Extreme Edition 3.73 GHz supporting Hyper-Threading (HT) Technology and four new processors in the Intel Pentium 4 Processor 6xx sequence supporting HT Technology.
All five of the new processors support 64-bit memory addressability through Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T). Intel plans to ship EM64T on versions of every newly introduced Intel desktop processor including the company's Intel Celeron D processor lines later this year.
The Intel Pentium 4 Processor 6xx sequence processors help enable new power-saving benefits to the desktop with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST). Similar to the technology used in Intel Centrino Mobile Technology, EIST can enable power-saving by reducing overall average processor power consumption.
The new processors will support the upcoming Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system and will enable users to experience the benefits of 64-bit computing.
The Pentium 4 Processor Extreme Edition 3.73 GHz supporting HT Technology features a fast 1066 MHz system bus and 2MB of L2 cache that improves performance for such applications such as high-definition video and gaming that benefit from large amounts of data readily available to the processor.
The Intel Pentium 4 Processor 6xx sequence supporting HT Technology comes in speeds of up to 3.60 GHz, features an 800MHz system bus, a doubled L2 cache of 2MB, and Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST). This power-saving capability is supported by Windows XP Service Pack 2. Additionally, the larger L2 cache provides potential performance benefits while Execute Disable Bit technology offers improved protection from certain types of viruses when coupled with Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Intel ended 2004 with more than two-thirds of its Pentium processors shipping with HT Technology and introduced a number of enabling tools, software and programs to lay a strong foundation for its upcoming dual-core platforms coming later in 2005.
With these new processors, Intel continues to lead the way for innovative offerings for the digital home and digital office in 2005, extending the award-winning Intel® 925/915 Express chipset families and providing a strong platform foundation for the latest PC uses.
Pricing & Availability
The new family of Intel Pentium 4 processors supporting HT Technology 6xx sequence and the Pentium 4 Processor Extreme Edition supporting HT Technology at 3.73 GHz are available now and priced as follows:
| Processor | Frequency | Front Side Bus (FSB) | On-die cache | Price in 1,000-Unit Quantities |
| Intel Pentium 4 processor Extreme Edition 3.73 GHz Supporting HT Technology |
3.73 GHz | 1066 MHz | 2 MB L2 | USD 999 |
| Intel Pentium 4 processor 660 Supporting HT Technology | 3.60 GHz | 800 MHz | 2 MB L2 | USD 605 |
| Intel Pentium 4 processor 650 Supporting HT Technology | 3.40 GHz | 800 MHz | 2MB L2 | USD 401 |
| Intel Pentium 4 processor 640 Supporting HT Technology | 3.20 GHz | 800 MHz | 2 MB L2 | USD 273 |
| Intel Pentium 4 processor 630 Supporting HT Technology | 3.00 GHz | 800 MHz | 2 MB L2 | USD 224 |