LabsCPU megatest
The Pentium 4 saw the introduction of Intel's NetBurst architecture, with its focus on high clock speeds and a deep pipeline that makes it ideal for linear tasks like encoding. But, arguably more importantly, it saw the birth of Hyper-Threading technology. This effectively gives you two virtual cores and as far as the operating system is concerned there are two physical CPUs. The wide-ranging family starts at the 3GHz Pentium 4 630 and finishes with the 3.8GHz 670. Every model has a decent 2MB of Level 2 cache for its single core and communicates via an 800MHz FSB. It also supports EM64T instructions, XD-bit security and Intel's power-saving SpeedStep technology. There are also newer 6x1 versions of all models, which are made using a 65nm process and reduce the TDP noticeably in the higher-end models. Some are dearer than the originals, others are cheaper, as the table below shows. Finally, 662 and 672 models were the
Are there any bargains to be found, though? The truth is that the Pentium 4 simply doesn't offer good value any more. In the past, it could be argued that its strength at encoding made it a good choice for video editing, but the arrival of first the Pentium D and then the even faster Core 2 Duo all but eliminated that argument. Then there's the efficiency issue. The Pentium 4 led the way in the marketing race for higher and higher numbers, but it inevitably ran hotter than any other mainstream CPU. The newer and cooler Core 2 Duo range shows just how power efficient an extremely fast CPU can be and leaves the poor Pentium 4 looking positively roasting by comparison. The only way the Pentium 4 could continue to be a good choice would be if the prices dropped to compensate, and it's clear from the graph on p94 that this hasn't happened sufficiently. The low-end 630 model scored 0.80 overall and costs £84, yet for an almost identical price you could pick up a far superior Pentium D 925 (scoring 0.94) or even an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (scoring 1.05). And when you consider that the bottom-end Core 2 Duo E6300 scores 1.16 yet costs just £106, it's clear that the Pentium 4 doesn't make economic sense any more. Click here for full results. Sponsored Links
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Intel Core Duo, 1.73 Ghz, 2048 MB, 200 GB Toshiba Satellite Pro L300-12F Intel Celeron M 55 Intel Celeron M, 2 Ghz, 1024 MB, 120 GB Acer Aspire One A150-Bw Intel Atom N270 1.60GHz Intel Atom, 1.6 Ghz, 512 MB, 120 GB Sony Vaio VGN-CR42Z/R Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4 Ghz, 4096 MB, 250 GB ASUS Eee PC 2G Surf Intel Celeron 800MHz / 512MB Intel Celeron M, 0.8 Ghz, 512 MB, 2 GB
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