HardOCP has an article on the realities behind the Via P4X266 chipset which offers DDR support for P4 CPU users. As was mentioned a little while ago Via is selling their own motherboards with the chipset which is a new market for them.

The Register has posted a big list of all the Intel processor products and their prices as of today. As you might know, Intel and AMD are both cutting prices.

According to x-bit labs, CPU prices will drop down some more this Monday. Look for changes between 12 and 29% for the Pentium 4, and between 12 and 22% for the Athlon XP.

Here's one that I dont know how slipped by us a couple days ago at the Microprocessor Forum. VIA has announced plans to create a Pentium4 CPU Clone (Thanks /.). Thats right, not just motherboards but they are actually going to make the CPU.

C.J. Holthaus, an engineer at VIA-owned Centaur Technology, told reporters the chip is a "Pentium 4 clone". Like Pentium 4 it will use a deep 18-stage pipeline architecture, allowing it to scale to very high speeds, and other key technologies will also mimic the Pentium 4, Holthaus said.

The chip is based on 0.10-micron technology and is due in 2003 or 2004. update: TheInquirer.net is claiming that the VIA guy who said this is in a bit of trouble, and they are of course now denying the whole thing. Thanks Raziel

Intel is closing up shop for their consumer electronics division. This includes stuff like digital cameras, digital audio devices, and misc other electronic toys. They are gonna sell off existing inventory and close the thing down by 2002.

Just when you thought the hip new thing to do with CPUs was using copper, Intel is saying they wanna use that wacky fiber optics stuff. The use of fiber optics will most certainly be more complex than just using pieces of metal, but also add the benefit of consuming less power when doing its job.

Optical connections, which use laser light beams rather than electrical impulses to transmit signals, could solve some bottlenecks because they can run on less power. It won't be cheap or easy, but it might become the lead alternative. Other companies are also looking at organic connections.

Oh my this one isnt pretty. Intel Corp has just announced that their company net revenue has dropped 77 percent for the quarter. They are projecting a pretty respectable 4th quarter but dont offer up a heck of a lot of explanation on the huge drop for this quarter:

Intel (Nasdaq:INTC - news) said that net income before acquisition-related costs fell to $655 million, or 10 cents a share, from $2.89 billion, or 43 cents, a year ago, which included 7 cents a share in acquisition-related costs. Sales declined 25 percent to $6.5 billion from $8.73 billion.

The AMD earnings conference is scheduled for tomorrow.

Intel is readying the release of their mobile Pentium4 and according to CNET those CPUs will be fast.When they are released early next year, speeds should be above 1.5Ghz with 2Ghz later in the year. To keep cost down, DDR ram will be used instead of Rambus.

Via Technologies, who as many people know have been fighting with Intel because of their P4 compatible chipset have decided to put out their own motherboard line as many motherboard manufacturers have been afraid of Intel pulling the plug on them if they were to cooperate with Via.

Somehow I overlooked actually linking the Intel story about their new CPU packaging. Here's some of the details released by Intel to check out. It's gonna make our computers go vroom!

Intel apparently plans to unveil a new chip packaging design that is a breakthrough which paves the way for CPUs to run at 20GHz in the years to come. Intel is gonna change the world! Hold on to your butt!

Packaging has never been one of the glamorous jobs in the chip industry. "It's been the ignored child in the semiconductor family," said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight 64. The main function performed by a package is to create electrical connections between the chip and the motherboard.

Once whatever it is gets announced, we'll update it here.

The Register has posted an updated Intel release schedule for the coming months, showing what new CPU and motherboards will be launched. In addition, The Register has a list of price changes for the Pentium 4 and 3 CPUs. Prices should be lowered October 28.

Intel today announced the release of the 1.2Ghz Celeron, one-upping AMD who just brought their Duron budget CPU to 1.1Ghz. The new Celeron is based on 0.13-micron process tech and is priced at $103 in thousand unit quantities.

ZDNet has a story about the launch of new mini-notebooks based on new Intel Pentium 3 M-processors. These are smaller and more heat efficient while still pushing the same speed.

This kind of stuff is just scary. A recent story on CNET has a mention of Intel pushing the P4 chips to the 3.5GHz mark some time next year. We all knew that the big thing about the P4 was how well it was going to scale, but it's still giving me the willies. Thanks caliche.

SamSung is running around with a new Rambus memory chip that they are claiming has some wacky performance enhancements. The current Rambus stuff caps out at around 800mhz, the SamSung guys are saying they can do 1,066mhz as well as just over double the number of megabits per chip.

Intel is filing more lawsuits against VIA in its bitter fight over patent violations. Intel has filed additional infringement suits in Germany, the UK and Hong Kong, trying to stop sales of the VIA Pentium 4 chipset P4X266.

XBit Labs has posted a Pentium 4 chipset comparison, putting the Intel 850, Intel 845 and VIA P4X266 chipsets against each other.

A little while back we posted that VIA had counter-sued Intel in response to the initial scuffle over their new P4 chipset. Well now VIA is gettin nasty.. they have filed another suit which is actually demanding the halt of production on the P4.

Intel and Rambus are still in bed together and liking it. They have renewed their license deal for the next five years. Rambus continues to be Intel's "preferred memory technology for high-performance [PCs]".