Pentium 4 Reaches the Speed Limit

Pentium 4 Reaches the Speed Limit

Processor at 3.8GHz may mark the end of Intel's speed race. As expected, Intel has introduced a 3.8GHz Pentium 4 processor in what could represent the end of an era for the chip maker.

The Pentium 4 570 processor at 3.8GHz will have the fastest clock speed of any processor available from Intel for an indefinite period. Intel has decided to cancel a planned 4GHz Pentium 4 processor and improve the performance of its desktop chips by adding cache memory.

Intel originally designed the Pentium 4 processor to run at faster and faster clock speeds and for years planned its marketing campaigns around those increases in clock speed. However, this year the company realized that the engineering resources required to eke out additional speed gains could be put to better use. The most recent Pentium 4 processors consume a great deal of power and can produce excessive heat within a PC, requiring additional testing and validation before they can be released.