Shortage of Intel 865 chipsets has silver lining

A SEVERE SHORTAGE of the almost defunct Intel 865 chipset is proving lucrative for the firm's competitors, the Taiwan Economic News said today.

Local companies such as Via and SIS are mopping up the aftermarket, the newspaper claimed, because people are fleeing the more expensive 9XX family of Intel chipsets which supersedes the 8XX series.

But there is a bit of a problem, and that is that although the 865 chipset is an inexpensive option compared to the whole PCI Express raft of Intel introductions, the Pentium 4 in its former guise is not long for this world.

The Economic News reports that there's a build up of 915 chipsets in warehouses, even though Intel is scrabbling to shift the stock. The chip giant makes planned changes in its chipset strategies regularly, in order to push the envelope of innovation further.

According to recent roadmaps seen by the INQUIRER, the 570, Intel's current flagship microprocessor, will disappear off the face of the planet in the second quarter of next year. It will introduce its 660,650, 640 and 630 Pentium 4s, which have 2MB of level two cache, in January next.

Intel's 925XE chipset will cost $50, but the next slated change on chipset pricing is on Boxing Day. Intel is pricing the 865 family at more than the 9XX family, hoping that people will vote with their feet and move towards the latest and greatest support. µ