Thoughts
Prescott evaluationForget all the clever architecture and technology that goes into the Prescott CPU for a moment or two. Focus on the benchmark results and you'll begin to understand that Intel is using the S478 Prescott as a proving ground. The Prescott is designed to scale to 5GHz and beyond. Intel knew that the Northwood core was coming to the end of its lifespan, so a reduction in the manufacturing process coupled, crucially, with a far longer pipeline, which forces the CPU to do less work per clock cycle, was Intel's answer to a core that would scale and scale. If the present Northwood had been the recipient of all the other advantages (excluding the pipeline extension) bestowed upon the Prescott, we'd be congratulating Intel on a performance chip. SSE3 removes some of the difficulties associated with writing optimised SIMD code and introduces the much-needed horizontal class of instructions and a new FPU-based instruction, FISTTP (sounds naughty doesn't it ?). The larger cache will also bolster performance, and HT tech. will be improved once code is compiled to take advantage of the MONITOR and MWAIT instructions.
The evil blot on the horizon is Intel's policy of gaining clock speed by lowering the CPU's work accomplished per clock cycle. It's no wonder that no mention is made to it in the glowing literature. You won't see adverts for PC world computers stating that a longer pipeline is good. What you will see is the mass marketing of the Prescott's newer features. Is the Prescott a bad CPU ? No, it isn't. It's just taking a performance step back until it gears up for an assault led by a rampaging CPU clock.
Would we buy one of the new iteration of Prescott CPUs. The answer has to be a no. Prescotts are due to be released in LGA775 form-factor imminently. That makes the present S478 version redundant, especially as it is generally slower than its Northwood counterpart. We may need to re-evaluate the Prescott package once the LGA775 factor takes off. The Prescott range has a future who's success is determined by how quickly clock speeds ramp up and what Intel can do about the burning - literally - heat problem facing current models. There's a lot of good here, but initial performance is not one of its selling points.
Pentium 4 3.4GHz Northwood and Extreme Edition
The Northwood core is a known quantity. Intel further increased its attractiveness by launching dual-channel chipsets last year. The 3.2GHz model was fast, so it stands to reason that the 3.4GHz version will be faster. The question facing a potential buyer is whether buying the last model of any core is a good idea. Intel will no doubt charge a heavy price for the 3.4GHz models, and with the faster Socket-775 Grantsdale and Alderwood motherboards just around the corner without Northwood support, the decision to buy a 3.4GHz Northwood is not as straightforward as it should be. We'd personally hold fire and see just how the S775 Prescott and associated boards perform. Intrinsically, though, the 3.4Ghz Northwood is a mighty fine CPU.
The 3.4GHz Extreme Edition performed predictably well. It's is, and the following statement is open to energetic debate, the fastest x86 CPU around. Speed has a nasty habit of being expensive. We reckon that the 3.4Ghz EE will set your wallet back by over £700. If you absolutely need the fastest Pentium 4 available, accept no substitute. We just have a a hell of a time justifying that kind of monstrous price tag.
We'll be taking a closer look at the Prescott in the coming weeks. Our initial thoughts are mixed. Enthusiasts won't like it. Intel, truth be told, doesn't really care about them. It just needs a consumer CPU that will keep escalating on the MHz front. The Prescott will certainly do that.
