Megahertz madness is far from dead at Intel, according to sources close to a possibly cunning plan it"s hatching.
The strong rumour is that Intel is currently working on a machine which could well be used by NASA – just as for instance – that teams together eight CPUs, each at eight GHz and all in the same big big chassis.
How are they doing this? Well, encouraged by top silicon spins, the sources suggest that they can just about manage to clock Pentium 4s to 8GHz, and manage that by immersing the MIPS monster by bathing it in the very coldest liquid nitrogen they can pour out of their taps.
The suggestion is that such a machine could be used, for example, in a ground control system for NASA"s X31 spaceship.
Current Intel roadmaps are projecting speeds of 3.40GHz on Pentium 4 90 nanometer "Prescotts" by this time next year