"Today Intel unveiled the next great chip in their line of Pentium 4 processors. This chip codenamed 'Prescott' has been talked about for quite some time and we hope the chip lives up to the hype. With new features like an increased L2 cache and new instructions, the Prescott has the goods on paper. Along with this new processor, Intel also released a speed bump to their 'Extreme Edition' line which brings the chip up to 3.4GHz. The Extreme Edition chips encompass the same features of their normal 'Northwood' Pentium 4 cousins but also add an additional 2MB of L3 cache to the existing 512KB of L2. In this review we will introduce you to these new Intel processors and also bring in the Athlon 64 desktop processors now available at 3400+ model numbers. If your ready for a look into what AMD and Intel have in store for you today, read on.
"First, we'll talk about Intel's Extreme Edition part. The Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition offers nothing fancy like new instructions or a new manufacturing process. Instead, Intel took the brute force approach on this CPU and simply added an additional 2MB of L3 cache. This wasn't even a processor redesign for Intel, they simply took their Xeon MP processor and repackaged it in a Socket 478 socket, compatible with today's 865/875 series motherboards. Many have said that this processor wasn't even planned but that Intel decided they needed an answer to AMD's Athlon 64 FX line. This wouldn't be confirmed by Intel, of course, but it's not like any processor company to spring random new products on the industry without a fair amount of hype..."
