Intel

Intel Prices

Intel CPUs
CPU	Current	Last Week	Change	Company	Rating
Pentium 4 2.0 GHz 478-pin	$570	$583	-13	NewEgg	6.4/7
Pentium 4 1.9 GHz 478-pin	$387	$403	-16	NewEgg	6.4/7
Pentium 4 1.8 GHz 478-pin	$275	$255	+20	NewEgg	6.4/7
Pentium 4 1.7 GHz 478-pin	$205	$205	0	NewEgg	6.4/7
Pentium 4 1.6 GHz 478-pin	$182	$184	-2	MultiWave	5.6/7
Pentium4 2.0 GHz 423-pin	$574	$574	0	NewEgg	6.4/7
Pentium 4 1.8 GHz 423-pin	$260	$255	+5	NewEgg	6.4/7
Pentium 4 1.7 GHz 423-pin	$205	$192	+13	SpartanTech	6.4/7
Pentium 4 1.6 GHz 423-pin	$182	$165	+17	MultiWave	5.6/7
Pentium 4 1.5 GHz 423-pin	$134	$154	-20	NewEgg	6.4/7
Pentium 4 1.4 GHz 423-pin	$127	$120	+7	NewEgg	6.4/7
Pentium 4 1.3 GHz 423-pin	$113	$139	-26	NewEgg	6.4/7
Pentium III 1.2 GHz Tualtin	$316	$321	-5	Axion	5.8/7
Pentium III 1 GHz	$164	$186	-22	TCWO	6.1/7
Pentium III 933 MHz	$146	$153	-7	TCWO	6.1/7
Pentium III 866 MHz	$125	$136	-11	TCWO	6.1/7
Pentium III 850 MHz	$123	$137	-14	TCWO	6.1/7
Pentium III 700 MHz	$93	$101	-8	Krex	5.6/7
Celeron 900 MHz	$55	$60	-5	TCWO	6.1/7
Celeron 850 MHz	$51	$56	-5	TCWO	6.1/7
Celeron 800 MHz	$47	$55	-8	TCWO	6.1/7
Celeron 700 MHz	$34	$43	-9	TCWO	6.1/7

Comments

Pentium4 prices sort of wiggled about a bit. The flagship 2.0 GHz dropped a few bucks in comparison to its price. Despite being the fastest thing on the block right now, we'd rather pocket roughly $200, and get the 1.9 GHz. (Or if you were me - pocket the $470 and get an AMD 1.4GHz.) Seriously, unless you really cannot live without two solid gigahertz of power, you are better off not getting it at the moment. Some of the Pentium4 prices went up mainly because a few places did not have any in stock. Lower prices can be found, but they didn't meet our standards.

If you are getting ready to buy a Pentium4, we suggest you avoid the socket 423 varieties like the plague. This line is dead. If you own a socket 423 at the moment, we highly suggest you sell it and the motherboard it came in on, do yourself a favor and get the socket 478 varieties. The 423 might become tasty if the prices drops are huge, but until then - don't say we didn't warn you.

Our stance on the Pentium III and Celeron remain the same. If you have an older motherboard and don't want to bother changing everything, the higher speed grades will help to tide you over for a while. We still recommend getting the 700E, and whatever Celeron you want, as those things are so cheap anyways.

Wrap

Our verdict does not budge - overall we would stick with the AMD CPUs for the time being. For the price it's really hard to justify getting a Pentium4. That might change as soon as the P4X266 comes out, bringing DDR RAM support to the Pentium4; no matter how much Intel dislikes this chipset, it can only help the ailing sales figures of the IV. We should have a review of one of those boards up pretty soon now. Lastly, the only big thing left on the horizon for the foreseeable future is the nForce. If you choose to go the AMD way, you might want to hold off for just a smidgen to see what happens with this line of motherboards.