Intel recalls 1.13GHz Pentium IIIs

Intel (intc) officials said the company is recalling the chip due to a problem that could cause certain applications to freeze.

The chip shipped July 31.

At least one analyst said the recall may have resulted from Intel's break-neck competition with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to be first to market with the fastest processors.

Only some of the 1.13GHz chips showed the problem, according to the chip maker. However, the company will recall all 1.13MHz Pentium III processors that have shipped to date.

It will repair the problem in a future version of the chip.

Intel Corp. (intc) "We found some marginality in the part within certain temperatures within the operating range and certain code sequences (in applications)," said spokesman George Alfs. "We're not happy with the chip and we're going to pull it back."

Intel is working with its PC manufacturer customers to recover the processors that have been shipped to end users. Out of all the PC manufacturers in North America, only IBM Corp. has shipped significant quantities of the chip.

"We have shipped them, so we do have customers that have the system," said Ray Gorman, an IBM spokesman. "We will get in touch with those customers who have purchased the computer. We'll work with Intel to work with those customers to resolve any problems they have."

IBM said it has taken the Intel 1.13GHz computer off its Shop IBM Web site.

A Dell Computer Corp. (dell) official said it had not yet shipped the Intel machines. "We started taking orders July 31 and we were supposed to ship last week, but didn't because we heard from Intel that there was a problem," said spokeswoman Maria Krinsky.

Alfs said the number of 1.13GHz Pentium IIIs that has shipped to date is "small," but he would not elaborate.

"We're going to take some time here and rework it. We'll have it back on the market in a couple of months," he said.

Those customers with 1.13GHz Pentium III chips should contact their PC vendor for more information about the recall.

The move comes at a bad time for Intel. Its main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (amd), on Monday announced that PC makers are now shipping systems with its 1.1GHz Athlon chip on board, putting Intel at a competitive disadvantage.

"The battle versus AMD is taking its toll. It has changed the rules this year for chip announcements," said Mike Feibus, principal analysts at Mercury Research.

The battle has, for example, forced Intel to announce faster Pentium III chips sooner than it would normally have done so, he said. The so-called "boutique" announcements boast the highest speed chips, but the chips are available only in limited quantity.

The recall also suggests that the Pentium III design is coming to the end of the line.

"It's the further affirmation that they're reaching the end of the line with the Pentium III and they need Pentium 4," Feibus said.

The next-generation Pentium 4 is scheduled to ship in the fourth quarter.

In May, The Santa Clara, Calif. company announced it would replace nearly 1 million motherboards using its 820 chip set, which was hurt by a memory problem.

Despite the opportunity the Pentium III 1.13GHz recall presents to AMD, the company apparently won't do anything special to take advantage of it.

"It doesn't change anything for us. We have 10 (PC makers) who are committed to offer 1.1GHz systems. We plan on continuing to ship a high volume of higher frequency parts," said AMD spokesman Drew Prairie.

In a rare move, Intel Corp. will recall its 1.13GHz Pentium III chip.

Intel (intc) officials said the company is recalling the chip due to a problem that could cause certain applications to freeze.

The chip shipped July 31.

At least one analyst said the recall may have resulted from Intel's break-neck competition with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to be first to market with the fastest processors.

Only some of the 1.13GHz chips showed the problem, according to the chip maker. However, the company will recall all 1.13MHz Pentium III processors that have shipped to date.

It will repair the problem in a future version of the chip.

Intel Corp. (intc) "We found some marginality in the part within certain temperatures within the operating range and certain code sequences (in applications)," said spokesman George Alfs. "We're not happy with the chip and we're going to pull it back."

Intel is working with its PC manufacturer customers to recover the processors that have been shipped to end users. Out of all the PC manufacturers in North America, only IBM Corp. has shipped significant quantities of the chip.

"We have shipped them, so we do have customers that have the system," said Ray Gorman, an IBM spokesman. "We will get in touch with those customers who have purchased the computer. We'll work with Intel to work with those customers to resolve any problems they have."

IBM said it has taken the Intel 1.13GHz computer off its Shop IBM Web site.

A Dell Computer Corp. (dell) official said it had not yet shipped the Intel machines. "We started taking orders July 31 and we were supposed to ship last week, but didn't because we heard from Intel that there was a problem," said spokeswoman Maria Krinsky.

Alfs said the number of 1.13GHz Pentium IIIs that has shipped to date is "small," but he would not elaborate.

"We're going to take some time here and rework it. We'll have it back on the market in a couple of months," he said.

Those customers with 1.13GHz Pentium III chips should contact their PC vendor for more information about the recall.

The move comes at a bad time for Intel. Its main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (amd), on Monday announced that PC makers are now shipping systems with its 1.1GHz Athlon chip on board, putting Intel at a competitive disadvantage.

"The battle versus AMD is taking its toll. It has changed the rules this year for chip announcements," said Mike Feibus, principal analysts at Mercury Research.

The battle has, for example, forced Intel to announce faster Pentium III chips sooner than it would normally have done so, he said. The so-called "boutique" announcements boast the highest speed chips, but the chips are available only in limited quantity.

The recall also suggests that the Pentium III design is coming to the end of the line.

"It's the further affirmation that they're reaching the end of the line with the Pentium III and they need Pentium 4," Feibus said.

The next-generation Pentium 4 is scheduled to ship in the fourth quarter.

In May, The Santa Clara, Calif. company announced it would replace nearly 1 million motherboards using its 820 chip set, which was hurt by a memory problem.

Despite the opportunity the Pentium III 1.13GHz recall presents to AMD, the company apparently won't do anything special to take advantage of it.

"It doesn't change anything for us. We have 10 (PC makers) who are committed to offer 1.1GHz systems. We plan on continuing to ship a high volume of higher frequency parts," said AMD spokesman Drew Prairie.