In a briefing to analysts Wednesday, Intel execs predicted the company's forthcoming Pentium IV chip, scheduled for launch this month, will achieve mainstream market penetration sooner than expected. Meanwhile, a company spokesman Thursday clarified the chipmaker's plans for supporting controversial Rambus memory in its chipset designs.

During the analysts' briefing, which the company opened to all via a Webcast, Intel executive VP Paul Otellini said he expects Pentium IV to surpass Pentium III in sales a year earlier than the initial target of 2002.

Observers say it's crucial that Intel pour on the coals. "Pentium III is stretched as far as it can go. Meanwhile, [Advanced Micro Devices] is already producing an architecture that could potentially achieve speeds of 2 GHz," Humberto Andrade, a Technology Business Research analyst, says, referring to the Athlon Thunderbird.

Intel's fastest processors usually start showing up in business desktops about six months after they appear en masse in consumer PCs. Intel's fastest chip is its 1-GHz Pentium III. Pentium IV is expected to debut at speeds in excess of 1.4 GHz.

Pentium IV is designed to work with high-speed Rambus--or RDRAM--memory, which promises to improve performance over standard SDRAM. However, a number of PC makers have balked at RDRAM's relatively high price. They fear it will hurt system sales.

Bowing to the pressure, Intel has said it will at least consider offering a less-expensive form of high-speed memory, known as Double Data Rate, as an alternative. Earlier this week, the issue resurfaced when InformationWeek's sister publication Electronic Buyer's News reported that Intel would drop Rambus memory from its product line altogether by the middle of next year, with the exception of chips destined for high-end workstations and PCs priced at more than $2,000. The news sent the stock of RDRAM-maker Rambus Inc. tumbling more than 30% Tuesday.

But reinforcing remarks make by Intel execs Wednesday, a company spokesman said Thursday that Rambus-compatible chipsets "will be the primary chipset for Pentium IV, at least through 2001." Also at Wednesday's briefing, Otellini said Intel will introduce a 900-MHz Pentium III Xeon server chip in the first quarter of next year.