Intel’s 1.13GHz CPU Recalled – Is Intel resorting to desperate measures?

The kudos here goes to Dr. Tom Pabst of Tom’s Hardware that pieced together the puzzle so early in the game, and brought forth the proper test to prove it most recently.  While even we were skeptical initially because of our flawless experience with the CPU, it is clear that the 1.13GHz Pentium IIIs weren’t up to par with what we were used to from Intel and what we have come to be used to from AMD. 

For the first time in a while, Intel falls underneath this section.  Feeling the pressures of AMD, it seems like Intel was coerced into thinking that releasing a 1.13GHz Pentium III, although not completely ready, would give them something to compete against the upcoming 1.1GHz Athlon. 

It’s about time that someone realized that clock speed isn’t everything.  In AMD’s case, the Thunderbird core is perfectly capable of hitting 1.1GHz and thus AMD released a 1.1GHz Athlon.  If you remember, the first Thunderbird cores were demonstrated at 1.1GHz last February. 

Intel put quite a bit on the line by “releasing” a processor that wasn’t quite ready, they broke one of the oldest rules in the book, they sacrificed quality for quantity.  And now they’re forced to recall their 1.13GHz CPUs, not a smart decision. 

We have really seen the tables turn for Intel in the past year, but the company simply has too much momentum behind them to simply collapse right now.  They have definitely hit a number of bumps in the road, quite a few of them created by their own mistakes, although a number are due to the recent success of AMD processors. 

The Pentium 4 will prove to be an interesting chip for Intel, because out of the box it won’t immediately save Intel, but it’s a start.  We already know what the performance of the Pentium 4 will be, but unfortunately we can’t share that data with you just yet. 

It seems like Intel got a bit too wound up in the spirit of competition, let this be a lesson learned to both Intel and AMD.  According to Intel, the Pentium III 1.13GHz won’t be shipping in quantity for at least a couple more months.  While this date may change, it’s basically an attempt to play it safe on Intel’s part. 

As it has always been said before, once bit, twice shy, let’s hope Intel doesn't pull this a second time.