Celeron hits 0.5GHz

What's the difference?

That brings us to today - Intel is under constant pressure to introduce faster and cheaper processors in both high end and budget markets, and the PC-buying public is getting the full benefit from this increased competition. In order to keep up with AMD's ever-faster K6-2 and K6-3 processors, Intel has recently faster and faster Celeron chips, running at 433, 466, and now 500MHz. The Celeron's multiple speed grades not only closes the gap between high and low end. It also allows Intel to flood the market with so many processor choices that other manufacturers' chips become even less distinct in the decision-making process.

Isn't that what the P3 runs at?

Here's the big picture. The Pentium III currently has a top speed of 550MHz, with 600MHz promised to arrive within the month. The Celeron now has a top speed of 500MHz, with an enigmatic "500+MHz" anticipated before the end of the year. Both CPUs have nearly identical core architectures, and various design tradeoffs that affect performance, price, and packaging.

Is it comparable? Does it matter?

Despite its evenly rounded speed, the 500MHz Celeron isn't a 100MHz front-side-bus chip, as the Pentium II and Pentium III are. Running at a (locked) multiplier of 7.5 x the 66MHz bus, the Celeron 500 does not require PC-100 memory, but overclocking would most likely call for such high-speed DIMMs.

Also missing from the Celeron line are the Pentium III's coveted "Streaming SIMD Extensions," which work to significantly boost the computation of specific repetitive tasks such as 3D, image, and audio processing. The difference isn't always mind blowing, but you'll remember how quickly MMX took over the market, even though it was potentially one of the least useful instruction additions ever made. Since most of us are well-familiar with Intel's disco bunnymen commercials, it can be seen as an example of marketing triumphing over science.

But it's got cache

Not everything is bad, however. The Celeron makes use of a fast, on-die L2 cache, which runs at twice the speed of the P3's. With only 128KB however, the Celeron's L2 is ¼ the size of the P3's. In most cases, MHz for MHz the Celeron is more than capable of keeping up with the Pentium III, and in many tests can even best its big brother. The thing to remember when considering a CPU - you're not sacrificing performance by going to the low end. In most cases, you're just going to be saving yourself some money.