The Intel Conroe XE won't clock at 3GHz

WE HAVE BEEN getting a lot of letters about the Conroe EE/XE product, asking us what the final specs are. We were told just after Christmas that it would be a 3.33/1333 part, and that story was corroborated by multiple sources.

The XEs they are showing to the press, however, are 2.97/1066 parts. What will they really be?

Short answer: 2.93. Longer answer: 2.93, because that was 'enough'.

We are still confident that Intel could do a 3.33 part, and it will be certainly making a 3.0/1333 for Woodcrest in about three weeks, so there seems to be little problem with a limited number of selected microprocessors.

Intel looks to be doing what Nvidia and ATI keep doing to each other, waiting for one side to pick a number and then beating it by just enough to claim victory. This ups margins and makes for a more profitable part, or a cheaper part if it is feeling altruistic.

Intel set the bar where it wanted it to be, and it does indeed look to be "enough". µ