Super speed 1GHz chips dismissed as marketing ploy

Compaq and Gateway are planning to launch PCs based on AMD's 1GHz chip in Europe, but analysts expect customer demand to be low.

Compaq and Gateway are planning to launch PCs based on AMD's 1GHz chip in Europe, but analysts expect customer demand to be low.

AMD pipped rival Intel to the post by two days in the race to ship the first 1GHz processors, but the launches have been described as nothing more than a marketing exercise.

Gateway said its 1GHz machines are available now, with prices starting at £1,899. Compaq plans to launch its 1GHz PCs in Germany within the next four weeks, with European rollout expected shortly afterwards.

Dataquest analyst Thomas Reuner, said: "It's the typical race between Intel and AMD. It's mainly a marketing message."

He added: "In the professional market, no-one would buy 1GHz machines - 650MHz is more than enough. Bandwidth is more important to corporate IT buyers ."

He said it is the same story in the consumer market: "Only a handful will buy machines at that speed."