Intel is preparing a Pentium 4 blitz for the remainder of 2001, aiming to drive the chip into the heart of the desktop PC market before the end of the year, executives said Tuesday during a conference call after the chipmaker's second-quarter earnings announcement. Intel intends to accelerate its Pentium 4 road map, cranking the clock speed of the chip past 2GHz before the end of the year. Although 2GHz-plus speeds have been expected for some time, Intel will likely introduce them sooner. Introducing faster Pentium 4's sooner will allow the company to aggressively cut prices on existing chips, as its ultimate goal is not so much to offer the fastest PC processor but to drive Pentium 4 into all Intel-based desktop PCs priced at $800 and higher. The move will increase the chip's presence in the mainstream part of the PC market while collapsing the current pricing gap between PCs based on Intel's Pentium III and systems based on the Pentium 4 processor. The end result will be a full transition from Pentium III to Pentium 4 on the desktop before the end of the year.