Back to Article

Intel^® Pentium^® 4 processor and Intel^® 845G chipset
delivering stability to the enterprise

Over the past several years, Internet technologies have brought about a great deal of change for businesses. The evolution of the Internet from e-mail and e-Commerce to Web services is creating an environment for Information Technology (IT) departments to play an increasingly strategic role in the success of business operations. However, one challenge remains constant among large organizations: the need to reduce the costs associated with choosing and maintaining end-user systems. The decisions IT managers make regarding platforms, vendors, and system configurations have far-reaching consequences for the business. Operating costs, employee productivity, corporate agilityall are affected heavily by client PCs deployed in business.

For IT managers, there is no simple answer. Organizations must weigh issues such as procurement costs, client-side performance requirements, available server and network resources, as well as technology support and management considerations when making decisions. Ultimately, companies must extract maximum benefit from client PCs, while minimizing the total cost of ownership (TCO).

Intel has over twenty years of experience providing computing solutions for business and understands the challenge faced by IT managers. One of the most important challenges that Intel addresses with the design of new processors and chipsets is platform stability. Although platform reliability is part of the value Intel delivers, it is only an element of this platform stability. Overall platform stability is derived from a combination of hardware design and availability and software driver compatibility. Intel works with major PC vendors to ensure PC platforms offer simplified migration, ease of support, and long operating life, providing the IT customer definitive business value.

the corporate stable platform: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor with Intel® 845G chipset
Nowhere is this commitment to a corporate stable platform more apparent than in Intel's efforts around the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor and the Intel® 845G chipset. The Pentium 4 processor, with its unique Intel® NetBurst" microarchitecture, features 144 new Streaming SIMD Extensions 2 (SSE2), high-speed memory and system bus connections, and a new floating point and integer unit designed to handle both today's and tomorrow's applications. Most importantly, this processor and chipset have been rigorously tested for both reliability and compatibility with third party hardware and software. The result: systems based on Pentium 4 processors are built upon a well-integrated and highly reliable platform that optimizes performance, assures compatibility, and eases management.

The Intel 845G chipset delivers cutting-edge technology in desktop PCs. Pentium 4 processor-based PCs built on the 845G chipset provide performance for the most advanced applications. With its integrated USB 2.0, graphics, and LAN along with support for either DDR or SDRAM system memory, Intel 845G chipset-based systems allow IT departments to deploy hundreds or thousands of PCs without compromising performance or compatibility with cutting-edge applications.

Intel advantage: guidance and longevity, availability and compatibility
Intel provides guidance in managing platform transitions, offering a specialized stable platform road map that helps IT managers plan for future migrations. The result: businesses can schedule the deployment of new platforms to achieve the longest useful life from PCs, while minimizing changes to deployed software and infrastructure.

As part of the stable platform road map, Intel offers guidance on recommended processor speedsspeeds that should provide system longevityenabling IT to procure systems that can run their application suite and upgrades well for three years. Companies can save considerable time and money by deploying high-performance Pentium 4 processor-based desktop PCs by avoiding premature system replacements in the future.

In addition to this guidance, Intel offers extended availability on the chipsets designated as part of the stable platform recommendations, providing IT the benefit of longer purchase availabilitypotentially reducing qualification cycles and efforts.

Finally, Intel works to minimize changes to the software image with its work with device driversallowing smoother transitions and improved manageability. The Intel® 845G chipset delivers integrated solutions for graphics, LAN, and audio. As part of these solutions, Intel creates BIOS and device drivers and performs exhaustive testing with the full range of Intel® Pentium® brand processors as well as other third party hardware. Rigorous post-silicon validation includes compatibility testing that spans more than 20 operating systems, 400 applications and 150 peripherals, ensuring a high degree of compatibility.

the foundation of a stable platform: quality and reliability
Another benefit of Intel's stable platform offerings: peace of mind. Intel maintains the industry's most comprehensive validation program for processors and platforms. In 2000 alone, Intel spent more than $200 million on validation testing, and had over 900 employees involved in testing and reliability programs.

Intel's internal testing programs are part of a larger cooperative effort with third-party vendors throughout the industry. Intel works extensively with PC manufacturers, hardware vendors and software developers to ensure optimized performance and compatibility on Intel platforms. This creates a synergy that benefits all parties, especially the business purchaser who can rely on a vast array of optimized applications and components, as well as stable platforms that help to reduce operational costs.

Intel: enabling stable platforms to provide IT value
Stable platforms lie at the heart of a standardized, cost-effective client infrastructure. Intel develops many of the core components that have a significant impact on PC platform stability including the CPU, chipset and network interface, and software drivers. These comprehensive product offerings enable Intel an unparalleled ability to help PC manufacturers support the stable platform needs of their corporate customersspecifically IT managers across the globe.

Intel is committed to providing the highest level of reliability in its products and enabling stable platforms from PC manufacturers by providing extended availability of chipsets, longevity of systems with high performance processor offerings, and compatibility of software through extensive testing and driver creation and support.

* Legal Information and Privacy Policy © 2002 Intel Corporation