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In April, Intel began shipping 350 MHz and 400 MHz versions ofits Pentium II microprocessor to desktop PC manufacturers. Thisrelease marks an effort by the chip-making giant to produce a rangeof Pentium II processors that will meet the computing needs of allsegments of the small-business PC market. The line includesaffordable basic PCs used for word processing and spreadsheets allthe way up to high-performance machines ideal forgraphics-intensive applications such as desktop publishing. Thegraphics-crunching abilities of these chips have been furtherenhanced by a new 100 MHz system bus, the "data pipe"that lets the processor access data from the main memory.
Although some small-business consumers might find the cost ofcutting-edge PCs that incorporate the newer, faster chips too highright now, Willy Agatstein, director of small-business marketingfor Intel, says it's only a matter of time before innovationand market forces drive prices down. "There is a natural cycleof new products coming into production, going into high-volumeproduction, the cost being reduced, and then a newer product beingreleased," says Agatstein. "For small-business consumers,the prices for [PCs using] the faster chips are going to be lowerthan ever."
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