PC vendors jump aboard the Grantsdale PCI Express

Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), IBM Corp., and Gateway Inc. all plan to incorporate Intel Corp.'s newest 915G/P and 925X Express chip sets into upcoming PCs for both consumers and corporate customers, the companies announced Monday.

The 915P and 915G chip sets, formerly code-named Grantsdale, are expected to be the backbone of new mainstream PCs released over the next 12 months. The 925X is targeted at high-performance gaming and content creation PCs. Intel plans to transition from its current chipset technology to the 915 G/P and 925X chip sets over the next 12 months.

All three chip sets take advantage of the PCI Express interconnect technology, which speeds up the rate that data can travel around a system. They also support faster DDR2 (double data rate) memory and improved audio and video performance.

Intel also introduced six new processors Monday alongside the new chip sets. Most of the new PCs also feature the new 90-nanometer Pentium 4 processors coupled with the new chip sets.

Dell unveiled two new Dimension PCs and one XPS PC on Monday with the new chip set technology. The Dimension 4700 utilizes the improved integrated graphics of the 915G chip set, while the other two models feature the 925X chip set.

The Dimension 8400 and XPS PCs are available immediately. A base configuration of the 8400 costs $1,369 with Intel's new Pentium 4 550 processor at 3.4GHz, 512MB of DDR2 memory running at 400MHz, an 80GB hard drive, a Radeon X300 SE graphics card from ATI Technologies Inc. with 128MB of video memory, a DVD-ROM drive, and a 17-inch (43.1-centimeter) CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor.

Dell updated the base configuration of its third-generation XPS desktop with the Pentium 4 560 processor at 3.6GHz, 512MB of DDR2 memory at 533MHz, a 80GB hard drive, the Radeon X800 XT graphics card from ATI with 256MB of video memory, a DVD-ROM drive, and a 17-inch flat CRT monitor. That configuration costs $2,599.

Users can add multiple hard drives as large as 400GB, double-layer DVD+RW drives, and Intel's 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition to the Dimension 8400 and XPS for an additional charge.

Dell's Dimension 4700 PC will be available in July for $919 with the Pentium 4 520 processor at 2.8GHz, the 915G chip set, 512MB of DDR2 memory at 400MHz, a 40GB hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive, and a 17-inch CRT monitor.

HP unveiled a new Media Center PC on Monday with the HP Personal Media Drive, a removable hard drive that can be connected to any other PC through a USB (universal serial bus) port. The Personal Media Drive slides into a bay located on the front of a new HP Media Center m1000 series Photosmart PC, and comes with 160GB of capacity. The Personal Media Drive will be available Wednesday for $219.99 as an external hard drive for PCs that don't feature the integrated media bay used in the m1000.

Digital imaging has been the centerpiece of HP's consumer PC strategy over the last six months, and the new m1000 PC is another example of that strategy. The Personal Media Drive allows users to share digital photos and movies with other PCs, and comes with HP Image Zone software that lets users access photos with a remote control included with Media Center PCs.