The last two years have seen a tremendous amount of activity taking place in the world of CPUs, thanks mostly to the efforts of Intel and its take-no-prisoners approach to market domination. When the first generation of Pentium II processors was released in May 1997, there was great debate as to whether or not the new line of processors would succeed.
The reason for the debate, not to mention controversy, was because if you wanted to enjoy this new technology, you had to first shell out several hundred dollars for the new processors, and then another couple hundred for a supporting motherboard. You see, the Pentium II was housed in a brand-new single-edge connector (SEC) cartridge, which required a new slot called Slot 1. This was not interchangeable or backwardly compatible with the Pentiums (and Pentium-competitors) that fit into Socket 7.
One of the results of this news was hardware-related newsgroups flooded with messages from long-time supporters and fans of Intel who said they were going to jump ship and buy an AMD K6, which was also new at the time and offered comparable performance for a much lower cost. People could not believe Intel would force them to buy new motherboards if they wanted Pentium II power in their systems. How dare they try and single-handedly bring about a revolution?
After all, we all had become attached to the idea that good old Socket 7 technology will always be there for us, and if a newer, faster processor should happen to come along, all we do is replace the chip. Why the sudden change to Slot 1?
Many who opposed Intel saw this as nothing more than a ploy to squeeze the last breath out of competitors AMD and Cyrix. Both corporations have developed reputations for their alternatives to Intel processors with comparable performance at a significantly lower price. And most of all, AMD and Cyrix processors were pin-compatible (still are) with Socket 7 motherboards, which meant you could put either company's CPU onto your board if you so desired.
With Pentium II processors, Intel moved to its patented Slot 1 design, thereby completely preventing the competition from designing processors that could be used on the same motherboards. This was just the ammunition that anti-Intel activists needed to try and convince the world that Intel was yet another evil empire, intent on driving its competition out of business through arguably unethical business practices.
So here we are today, one year later and what do we see? The dreaded Slot 1 design and Pentium II have not only withstood incredible opposition, but have managed to prevail in the process! And with very aggressive price cuts, these new processors are well on their way to becoming the norm.
Moving too fast?
There's no doubt that the computer industry is moving at an incredible pace, but is it moving too fast? That question is up for debate, but consider this: the first Pentium II 233 MHz processor was announced in May 1997. Today it's generally considered entry-level, since the Pentium line is very close to being discontinued.
And on April 15 of this year-a week before we completed this lab test report-Intel announced two new additions to its Pentium II lineup with speeds of 350 and 400 MHz. Along with the new processors came a new chipset, known as the 440BX, which officially supports the long-awaited 100 MHz bus.
And guess what folks? If you want to take advantage of the two new processors with 100 MHz bus speeds and BX chipset, you need a new motherboard. You see, the current batch of motherboards on the market with the 440LX chipset were only designed for processor speeds up to 333 MHz with a 66 MHz bus.
Want even more great news? At 400 MHz, your current 10 ns (nanosecond) SDRAM might not cut it. We've received a number of reports from our regular Test Lab contenders who have been informed by Intel that the new recommended (perhaps soon to be required) timing on RAM will have to be reduced to 8 ns.
Currently there are only two manufacturers that make this fast RAM, and the price tags are no laughing matter. A typical 32 MB SDRAM DIMM module goes for around $75 today, whereas the new faster 8 ns RAM currently sells for just over $200 for the same 32 MB. This will certainly change in time as demand grows, maybe even by the time you read this article, but at the time of this writing, the idea of upgrading yet again to gain more megahertz is not at all appealing.
And it's not just the processor world that's experiencing this type of fast-paced lifestyle. Hard drives today are double and even triple the size of what they were this time last year. Seagate recently began shipping its new line of fluid-bearing motor drives, which spin at 7,200 RPM and have capacities up to 9.1 GB. And no, we're not talking SCSI, but plain old IDE.
Maxtor has gone one step further, offering a drive with a total capacity of 11.5 GB. In the world of hard drives, size really does matter, and the manufacturers are making sure you know it.
This year will also see many changes in the world of video. Whether it's 2D or 3D acceleration, nearly every video card manufacturer has something new, or something new in the works. The new generation of Voodoo 2-based cards are now slowly making their way onto the scene, and are expected to make record sales. First to market was Creative Labs, followed shortly by Diamond with its Monster II. The all new 740 chip from Intel is also beginning to make its debut, and is already receiving praise as being a lower-cost alternative to 3D gaming with performance comparable to the first generation of Voodoo cards. Matrox also has something in the works, but we're currently under a non-disclosure agreement which prevents us from mentioning any details until June 1. (But after a visit to Maxtor's Montreal headquarters for a tour and some sneak peeks at the new technology, we can definitely say it's going to great!)
So is the PC industry moving too fast? For most of us, absolutely. And although it can be incredibly exciting to watch, it can also be incredibly frustrating for those of us who have to review these new technologies for our readers. This month was a good example of what can happen when new technology is announced but is not available (we're referring to the new 350 and 400 MHz CPUs).
Our Test Lab schedule is determined months in advance, and for this June issue we were scheduled to test high-performance systems. When we began extending our invitations to the PC manufacturers, these new processors were not available, nor had they been officially released by Intel. So we were left with no other alternative than to test what was readily available: the 333 MHz processors which were originally introduced Jan. 26.
As our deadline drew closer and closer, so did April 15-the release date for the new processors. Suddenly we had a couple of vendors that were able to get their hands on the 400 MHz chips and asked if we'd be interested in reviewing one of those systems as well. Naturally we agreed since ideally we would've tested nothing but 350 and 400 MHz systems.
However, most of the systems featured this month are based on 333 MHz processors. Now don't think that 333 MHz is anything less than incredibly fast just because there are a couple of faster CPUs on the market. When you stop and think for a moment just how much computing power is inside one of these machines, it's really quite mind boggling.
In fact, any PC you buy today has several times more computing power than what NASA had access to when it sent a man to the moon in 1969. That was 29 years ago. Can you imagine what the next 30 years holds in store for us?
What's new under the hood?
With the release of the 350 and 400 MHz Pentium II CPUs and the new 440BX chipset, we're not seeing anything really new as far as technology goes, with a couple of exceptions. The number of transistors found inside the CPUs still totals 7.5 million, the Level-2 cache is still 512KB, and they both use the 0.25 micron process that was introduced with the 333 MHz version back in January.
The most important differences are the support for a 100 MHz system bus, which will boost data throughput, as well as the obvious increase in the processor's core speeds. The 400 MHz CPU can deliver a 20 percent performance boost over a 333 MHz model with integer-related applications, and 19 to 21 percent performance improvement on multimedia benchmarks.
On the iCOMP index 2.0, the 400 MHz processor delivers a score of 440, whereas the 350 MHz version comes in at 386. When compared to the 333 MHz Pentium II, which comes in at a score of 366, we can definitely see a noticeable improvement with the two new processors.
The 440BX chipset's primary function is to allow the system bus to operate at 100 MHz, as opposed to 66 MHz, which has been in use for quite some time now. This was the case with the first Pentium processors with 100, 133, 166 MHz and every processor after that up until the 333 MHz Pentium II line. The only exceptions were the 150 and 166 MHz Pentium Pro processors that still used a 60 MHz bus. Also, the 440BX chipset offers support for Mobile Pentium II processors, which should make their debut around the time this issue is published.
The $1,000 PC with Pentium II technology?
You may have heard a lot of hype during the past little while about sub-$1,000 PCs. And although it's certainly been possible to build such a machine for quite some time now, Intel is now about to open a whole new can of ugly worms.
How? By making it seem that you can now have a Pentium II 266 MHz processor in a low-cost machine priced at (or close to) $1,000. But this is a good thing, right? For the large majority of the public, wrong!
It's called the Celeron processor and yes, it uses the Pentium II processor core, and yes it runs at 266 MHz. It even uses the latest 0.25 micron manufacturing process found in the 333, 350 and 400 MHz versions, and it costs a whole lot less than the original Pentium II processor. By now you must surely be wondering whether or not the guy writing this article has been drinking on the job, or if there's a catch with this new Celeron processor.
If you guessed the latter, you would be right. Remember the old saying, "there's no such thing as a free lunch"? The Celeron processor shows us just how true that is.
In its desire to bring Pentium II technology down to a much more affordable level, Intel has decided that it would be best to remove the 512KB Level-2 cache. So what's a Level-2 cache? In plain English, it's a large number of transistors (millions) that are located beside the actual processor. Its function is to speed things up greatly.
When you take a look at the black plastic casing that houses the Pentium II processor, you'll notice it's much bigger than a typical Pentium chip that you may be more accustomed to. One of the reasons for this is that the Pentium II processor itself is larger in size, plus the fact that the Level-2 cache sits right beside the processor (all inside the plastic cartridge).
By removing the Level-2 cache, Intel saves quite a bit of money on each processor it manufactures, but this saving translates into a performance loss. And just how much of a loss are we talking? Can the missing Level-2 cache really hinder performance that much? At the risk of using bad grammar, let's just say the numbers ain't pretty.
The Celeron processor, which operates at 266 MHz, can achieve an iCOMP index of 213. A Pentium 233 MMX processor comes in at 203. A regular Pentium II 266 MHz processor achieves an iCOMP index of 303. The numbers speak for themselves. This new 266 MHz Pentium II Celeron processor barely outperforms a previous generation Pentium processor running 233 MHz. In fact, according to the iCOMP index, it is 4.9 percent faster than a 233 MMX Pentium, and 42.25 percent slower than a 266 Pentium II processor with its Level-2 cache intact.
Same clock speed, but 42.25 percent less performance. Sure it may cost less than a CPU with the cache working, but how much are you willing to sacrifice in order to save a couple hundred bucks? At the time of this writing, a Pentium II 266 MHz CPU cost $493. Although we don't have a confirmation of what the Celeron processor will cost, a reliable source tells us it will retail for around $280. Hmm, you decide.
So when you walk into a store with knowledgeable sales staff and they try to caution you on the Celeron processor, heed their advice. Don't go thinking that they want to sell you the more expensive processor just to make a bigger sale. There's a good reason why the new processor costs around $200 less than it's original 266 MHz counterpart, so buyer beware!
Buyer be especially wary if you plan on purchasing a PC that will be used for some intense gaming. On the other hand, if a Celeron processor will power your office PC, where you do little more than Word, Excel and email, you have little to worry about.