Thoughts
There just aren't enough compelling reasons to buy a S478 Prescott right now. On the contrary, there's mounting evidence to suggest that purchasing the 3.4GHz model, priced at around £290, would be a sideways move if you're currently in possession of a reasonable system.Benchmark evidence sides with the current Northwood core, for it's rarely displaced as as S478 leader. What's more, AMD's excellent Athlon 64 S754 processors are able to match the Prescott in most respects and positively outshines it in gaming-related tests. Benchmarks numbers, for once, don't tell the entire story. What complicates the issue even further is Intel's move to Socket T (775 pin) chipsets, of which Alderwood and Grantsdale have currently been making the news. Only Prescotts, it seems, will make the transition from S478 to S775, so there's little impetus in buying a current Prescott Pentium 4 if processor longevity is your primary aim. Let's face it. S478 is more or less finished as Intel's lead consumer-level platform.
Indifferent performance, heat problems, lack of S478 upgrade potential, and strained availability, at the end, all count against a recommendation for the Pentium 4 3.4GHz Prescott processor. Looking at the overall situation from an enthusiasts point of view, we'd either plump for a slower Pentium 4 Northwood and i865PE motherboard or any number of AMD setups. Spending big bucks now may prove to be a foolhardy decision in the near future. Intel's high-end consumer-level options are compromised by the knowledge that a raft of new technology is just waiting to be unleashed. Intel's Prescott deserves a second chance on a new range of motherboards. In its current state, though, there's little to recommend an immediate purchase, unfortunately.
