Intel releases 433 MHz Celeron

Intel Corporation on Monday introduced its 433 MHz Celeron processor, threemonths earlier than expected. The company also said that the next Celeron,which will run at 466 MHz, will debut next quarter. The suddenly aggressivelow-end strategy comes as AMD has begun to make inroads with its K6-2 andK6-3 processors.

"Computers with the new Intel Celeron processor give consumers leading valuePC performance and a great way to get on the Internet for around $1000,"said Paul Otellini, executive vice president and general manager of theIntel Architecture Business Group. "The production ramp of these processorshas been the fastest in Intel history. We'll continue to aggressively rampboth the volume and capabilities of this processor family in order to bringmore value to consumers as quickly as possible."

This move bolsters the Celeron line, which is generally used in sub-$1000PCs, despite the fact that Celeron chips are roughly as powerful asequivalent Pentium II and Pentium III chips, which power higher-end systems.The Celeron 433 will cost only $175 per chip. Intel now offers Celeronsrunning at 433, 400, 366, and 333 MHz.