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Costing $925, the snappily-titled 'Pentium 4 with Hyper Threading technology Extreme Edition' (P4 HT EE), clocks in at 3.2GHz and features extra on-die cache. Specifically, there is a 512-kilobyte Level 2 cache and 2MB of Level 3 cache and an 800MHz system bus.

Intel first unveiled the P4 HT EE in September at the San Jose IDF, and it arrives within the 60-day window promised by Louis Burns,

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general manager of Intel's Desktop Platforms Group, in his 'The Digital Home, Vision and Direction' keynote.

Intel is targeting it at gamers because its extra punch should help deliver better graphics support. Intel claims, for example, that the large Level 3 cache will improve the preloading of graphics frame buffers or video frames before they are required by the processor. This should enable higher throughput and faster frame rates.

The processor is compatible with the existing Intel 865 and 875 chipset families and standard system memory.

The official Intel price for the processor - based on OEM-style orders of 1,000 units - is $925. That translates approximately to £582. For purposes of comparison, the 3.2GHz Pentium 4 desktop processor is priced at $417.

See also

Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, first benchmarks

IDF Fall 2003: Home entertainment includes new Intel processor for gamers