MARCH 2004 MAXIMUMPC 00
lower bus and port traffic to the cache.
Also new is an integer multiplication unit
that will no longer tie up the floating-point
unit’s time. This will benefit FPU-intensive
applications like encryption and other
math-intensive applications.Q: Is Prescott the only new CPU
from Intel this time?
No, and the clutter that Intel’s launch
strategy has created is somewhat con-
fusing. Intel actually released three new
chips this winter, each at 3.4GHz, or
200MHz faster than the previous P4s.
The first is a familiar Northwood Pentium
4 in “C” trim on an 800MHz bus. It still
retains 512KB of L2 cache and uses the
older 130-nanometer process. The second
CPU is the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition,
which adds a whopping 2MB of L3 cache
to the chip. Aimed at power users and
gamers, the Extreme Edition is extremely
hard to find and commands a premium
price. These factors have people deri-
sively calling the P4 EE the “emergency
edition” or “expensive edition.”
The third 3.4GHz Pentium 4 CPU is the
Prescott. All three will run on the 800MHz
bus and fit into Socket 478 motherboards.Q: If Intel is introducing three 3.4GHz
Pentium 4 chips, how will I be able to
tell the difference? And what speeds
are coming out?
Intel’s nomenclature, as always, seems
pretty whacked. But the problem isn’t the
triplet of new 3.4GHz speeds, it’s trying
to determine which chips are Prescott
CPUs at the lower speeds. The 3.4GHz
P4 Extreme Edition will be easy to differ-
entiate because it will be the only one to
carry the “Extreme” moniker. The 3.4GHz
Northwood will be simply “3.40 Pentium
4” and the Prescott will carry an “E” des-
ignator. Thus the fastest Prescott will be a
3.40E Pentium 4. Simple, right?
Unfortunately, it gets dizzying when
you consider that Prescott will be
introduced at 3.4GHz, 3.2GHz, 3GHz,
and two different 2.8GHz versions. All
of the 800MHz bus Prescott chips will
carry the “E” designator; the 2.8GHz
Prescott running on the 533MHz bus
will carry the designation of “A”—2.80A
Pentium 4. But wait—it gets even more
confusing when you remember that
there is a 2.80C Pentium 4 Northwood
on the 800MHz bus, but no “B” version
(which is commonly used to denote the
533MHz bus processors). Intel oddly
omitted the B from the 2.80 Pentium 4
Northwood on the 533MHz bus. Even
more bizarre, Intel has decided to not
offer Hyper-Threading on the 2.80A
Pentium 4 Prescott, making it the gimpi-
est of all Prescotts. Did Intel’s marketingdepartment get this “who’s on first” rou-
tine straight from Abbott and Costello?Q: Will Prescott work with my
existing motherboard?
Although Prescott still fits into Socket 478
boards, it’s really up to your motherboard
as to whether or not it will work. That’s
because, despite the smaller process and
more efficient core, a 3.4GHz Prescott runs
hotter than a 3GHz P4 by about 20 percent.
Besides running hotter, the Prescott
is also a power hog. In fact, some early
875P- and 865P-based mobos that didn’t
use heavy-duty voltage regulators may
not have enough juice to run it. Generally,
if your board is rated to run a P4 Extreme
Edition, it’ll probably run Prescott. To be
sure, visit your motherboard maker’s web
site and see what it says your board is
rated to run.
Interestingly, Prescott will include a new
feature where the CPU tells the system
how hot it can run. Before, CPUs were
generically assigned thermal limits based
on the entire line. With the Prescott, each
chip will have individual points they can
reach before telling the system to throttle
down. The ramifications of this new feature
aren’t quite clear, but Intel said the aver-
age consumer with a properly cooled CPU
will never even notice the feature. Even
so, if you’re upgrading to Prescott from a
slower Pentium 4, you’ll want to make sure
the heatsink you buy is rated for Prescott’s
higher temperatures.Q: Will Intel give consumers a price
break because Prescott has moved
to a smaller process?
It’s true that the new 90nm process will
allow Intel to jam more transistors into
its core than before. For example, even
though Prescott Pentium 4 will have 70
million more transistors than the current
Northwood Pentium 4, it fits into a die
that’s 33mm^2 smaller than the current P4.
This means that if every core on a wafer
were perfect, Intel could make roughly 30
percent more CPUs per wafer. Is there any
chance you’ll get a price break? Only in
your dreams. It’s not likely that the yields
will be perfect on each wafer. And Intel still
has to pay for the new fabs and associated
R&D. You will, however, feel some price
advantages as time goes on and Intel per-
fects the new process.
Besides the smaller process, Intel is
beginning to convert many of its fabs
to use larger 300mm wafers instead of
200mm wafers. By itself, moving from
a 200mm wafer to 300mm yields a 2.3x
increase in cores. If Intel decides to engage
AMD in a price war, the smaller, more effi-
cient 90nm process combined with 300mm
wafers will give it the upper hand —forQ
Q: Is Prescott the only new CPUQ
Q: Is Prescott the only new CPU
from Intel this time?Q
from Intel this time?
No, and the clutter that Intel’s launch
Q
No, and the clutter that Intel’s launch
Qstrategy strategy has created is somewhat con-has created is somewhat con-
Q
Q: If Intel is introducing three 3.4GHzQ
Q: If Intel is introducing three 3.4GHz
Pentium 4 chips, how will I be able toQ
Pentium 4 chips, how will I be able to
tell the difference? And what speeds
Q
tell the difference? And what speeds
Q are coming out?are coming out?
Q
Q: Will Prescott work with myQ
Q: Will Prescott work with my
existing motherboard?Q
existing motherboard?
Although Prescott still fits into Socket 478
QAlthough Prescott still fits into Socket 478
Qboards, it’s really up to your motherboard boards, it’s really up to your motherboardQ
Q: Will Intel give consumers a priceQ
Q: Will Intel give consumers a price
break because Prescott has movedQ
break because Prescott has moved
to a smaller process?
Qto a smaller process?
QIt’s true that the new 90nm process will It’s true that the new 90nm process will