Ballistics Report

Performance:

At the beginning, the Celerons were criticized with poor performance, mainly due to the lack of L2 cache. With the Mendocino core and on-die 128K, Intel has been able to take the Celery processors from laughingstock to superstar. The latest 366 performs just as it should, and in gutsy hands, can be overclocked to far greater speeds, a trademark signature that has earned the processor a place in the MHz-hungry hearts of upgraders everywhere. As long as Intel holds back any further overclocking-protection, that is.

Installation/Setup:

Well, this category is a little sketchy. Any kind of major upgrade will require a change in CPU and motherboard, but the PPGA packaging of the Socket-370 makes it a tough choice for folks moving from a socket-7 or slot-1 implementation. I can't see a BX motherboard owner moving to socket-370, and current socket-7 owners would surely hesitate before moving to a platform which may or may not have enough upgrade potential in the coming months/years. Regardless of whether the entire Celeron line moves to Slot 1, Intel would be more than happy to be able to kill the low-end market and sell only flagship products, and anything Intel wants, well, let's just say it has a slightly higher chance of actually happening.

Innovation:

The only thing "innovative" about the 366 PPGA as opposed to previous Celeron processors is the PPGA packaging, which is basically a 180 degree turn around from Intel's previous "socket technology is dead" stance from just a year ago. However, I'm not sure how much of a boon this is to the end user. I believe it when Intel says producing the chip in a PPGA package will save significant costs. But as of yet, it's still unclear whether these price savings will trickle down to the consumer, or whether it'll just be a way for Intel to increase profit margins in a savagely competitive market.

Price:

While it doesn't look like there are any significant savings by moving to Socket-370 yet, the Celerons have always remained quite competitive with other "low-end" offerings by AMD and Cyrix, especially since AMD is quickly catching up to and possibly surpassing Intel's top performers with their new 1999 chips. To the savvy buyer, the Celeron remains a cheaper, Pentium II with faster cache - well worth the money either as an interim or long-term solution.