The decision to take the 1.13-GHz Pentium III off the market allows Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to regain the speed lead in the x86 processor market. AMD has just announced volume availability of a 1.1 GHz Athlon device, and eight PC OEMs are already taking orders for systems based on the chips. With the 1.13-GHz Pentium III unavailable, Intel's current fastest device is the 1 GHz Pentium III, according to a company spokesman.

Intel confirmed the glitch in its own labs after receiving notice from customers, and other reports appeared on Internet postings that the chip had failed in some cases. The spokesman would not describe the exact conditions that bring on the failure, but said they were related to both temperature and specific applications, and that the company has been able to reproduce the problem. Although the issue appears to be related to a specific circuit, he would not specify if the flaw has also been tied to a specific fab or manufacturing lot.

So far, Intel has shipped "very few," of these fast Pentium III chips, and they were only launched at the end of July, according to the company spokesman. They are listed at $990 in 1,000-unit shipments, and the company's goal is to step the design and have it back on the market within two months.

In the meantime, this black eye for Intel may turn out to be a feather in AMD's cap, and at least two more PC OEM customers are on deck to turn out systems with the 1.1 GHz Athlon in the near future.