WHAT’S IT GONNA BE?

A recent news report:

"Reports surface that the first 1GHz microprocessor may be here nine months early.

Hardware rumour specialist The Register have reported that sources inside Intel say a 1,100MHz Willamette processor could be in the sweaty little hands of gamers, PC builders and the great unwashed masses by February 2000.

The move is reportedly an Intel counter to recent inroads AMD have made with the faster Athlon models that have won the hearts, minds and wallets of consumers since that chip's introduction earlier this year.

Still, others doubt that Intel could be ready so soon, and theorise that the first Willamette processors will appear at 800MHz. Even those won't show until early next year because the chipset to go with it, codenamed Tehema, isn't ready to fly yet.

Intel's Coppermine processor is scheduled to appear next week, and while it's built in the 0.18 size, it's not the giant speed leap over existing PIIIs that Willamette would be. "

I bet there are some bewildered faces among readers: Willamette, wasn't that the Flintstones' daughter? And why are Intel selling Coppermines? If you fall into this camp, let me try and explain the current hardware whirligig from a gamers' point of view. First, let's handle these pesky processors. The latest range of Processors have been launched from both the top manufacturers, with Intel's Pentium III going head-to-head with AMD's Athlon (a.k.a. the K7). If you intend to buy a computer soon, there is less difference between these offerings than separates Al Gore and an amoeba. The actual chip specifications are damn near identical, the only difference being that the motherboards (the thing the chip sits on) are better for the PIII than for the Athlon. So at the moment go for the PIII. You can afford to ignore the Willamette thing for now, as popular opinion suggests that no way can Intel make their deadline (an Intel worker is quoted as saying "Maybe, just maybe. But this short term, I really don't think so.").

Also, there are huge amounts of peripherals coming out in the next and past few months, some of which are processor-specific and many of which are not. It is here that the computer game designers really get into huge trouble. Which of the coming standards should they support, which do they predict will fail, and how should they persuade their customers that the ones they are offering are the best? This tightrope-balancing act can make or break companies. Take British indie developer Nascent Software, who staked everything on what they thought was the next big thing: Laserdisc-based gaming. We all know how much of a good idea that was.......

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