Intel is again shipping its new 3GHz Pentium 4 processor, a week after it halted shipments due to the discovery of an "anomaly," an Intel spokesman said Monday.

PC makers that use the chip in their systems have been supplied with a software update to fix the issue, George Alfs, an Intel spokesman said. Vendors including HP, Dell and Gateway introduced desktop systems based on the chip when it was released on Monday last week.

The issue with the 3GHz Pentium 4 with support for an 800MHz system bus occurs only in rare circumstances and users are unlikely to be affected, according to Alfs.

"The anomaly was an issue only seen in a lab environment on a small number of units undergoing stress testing. An end user probably would not see this anomaly in normal everyday use," Alfs said. He would not detail what tests caused the problem.

Intel would not specify how many of the new processors it shipped before putting the product on a "ship hold." The chip maker typically starts shipping a new processor some time before the official launch so PC makers can have products ready.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.