Pentium 4 'Willamette' Is Just A Short-Term Filler, Continued
Yesterday I was wondering about one strange thing in Intel's roadmap. It shows the i850-chipset as well as the 'Tehama-E' chipset, with 'Tehama-E' replacing i850 by Q3/2001. Now the funny thing is that first of all the code name of i850 is actually 'Tehama' and that in a chipset comparison table inside the roadmap i850 and Tehama-E are shown next to each other, although the specs don't differ at all.
Finally it has become obvious what that means. 'Tehama-E' will be a different version of 'i850' for the new 'Northwood' Pentium 4 processor. It will be the RDRAM-alternative to 'Brookdale'. Neither of the two chipsets will work with the first-generation Pentium 4.
In some ways, the 1st generation P4 is a bit like the Pentium Pro in Socket8, which enjoyed a rather short life before getting replaced by PII/Slot1. By the time Northwood/Brookdale is launched, Willamette/i850 will be completely phased out.
Isn't that shocking news? Who wants to buy the first Pentium 4?
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