Intel Ships a Faster Chip

Intel Corp. this week started shipping the fastest version so far of its high-end Pentium 4 microprocessor.

The new chip runs at 1.8 gigahertz, slightly faster than the 1.7-GHz Pentium 4 released in April. The world’s largest chip maker also released a 1.6-GHz Pentium 4 this week.

“These two new speeds enable a broader range of performance and price points for our customers,” said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel Desktop Platforms Group.

The company also announced plans to release a 2-GHz version of the Pentium 4 in the coming months. The new chips are Intel’s latest salvo in the battle against rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and its Athlon chip. So far, Intel is winning the gigahertz race, with Athlon topping out at 1.4 GHz. However, several product reviews indicate the Athlon performs better overall than the higher-speed Pentiums.

When the Pentium 4 was introduced this year, Intel had hoped to sell as many as 20 million units. So far, according to Mercury Research Inc., about 3 million have been sold.

What a Riot

If you missed out on the tear gas, rubber-pellet fire and window-smashing fun of Seattle’s 1999 anti-World Trade Organization riots, cheer up, you can still play the video game.

Thanks to Rockstar Games, a unit of New York-based Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., would-be hooligans can vent their anti-corporate venom by punching out riot cops and looting storefronts from the comfort of their own sofas.

Rockstar’s Web site, at https://www.rockstargames.com, urges players of “State of Emergency” to “smash up everything and everyone in order to destabilize the ATO,” the oppressive American Trade Organization, and its riot troop henchmen. Dick Lilly, a spokesman for Seattle Mayor Paul Schell, said such a game sends a bad message to children and distorts the message of peaceful protesters.