These things seem to go from deep dark secret to public domain overnight these days, and this week’s Infoworld and US PC Week both have stories about Intel Corp’s plans for a third generation of Pentiums for next year, planned to be the last before the P6 takes its bow. The company is switching to a 0.4 micron from a 0.6 micron process and sees large volumes of 155MHz and 120MHz Pentiums by the second half of next year: the 0.4 micron process should double the yield per wafer with little increase in costs.Intel will release a 75MHz Pentium processor later this month but a renewed Pentium push will get under way next spring, when prices for that processor and for the 100MHz Pentium will tumble sharply, sources close to Intel told the papers. The 100MHz Pentium, which now costs $940, is expected to be $575 by May. The 120MHz Pentiums are expected to cost about $650 next autumn: they will have a 60MHz external bus, while the P55C, the 155MHz versi on, may have a 60MHz bus, 50MHz for portables. The P55 core is expected to run off a supply of only 2.5V.
