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JUNE 2004 MAXIMUMPC 13
It’s Official: Gigahertz is DEAD
Intel ditches clock speeds in favor of a
brand-new naming conventionI
f you’ve ever found yourself at a store trying to figure
out just what the difference is between a 2.8GHz P4,
2.8GHz P4C, 2.8GHz P4E, and 2.8GHz P4A, Intel feels
your pain. In response, the company, which is largely
responsible for making megahertz the most familiar (if
sometimes misleading) representation of CPU power, has
decided to de-emphasize clock speeds in favor of feature
sets in all its future CPUs.
In the near future, a series of model numbers will
replace clock speed as the key component of each
CPU’s name. For example, a Pentium 4 3.4GHz
Prescott core would become a Pentium 4 550. A
3.6GHz version might be labeled P4 560, and the
Extreme Edition P4 760.
Confused? Think of the new naming scheme like
you would BMW’s automobile lineup. The 300 series will
represent budget chips, the 500 the midrange, and the
700 designator will represent the top dog. Intel, which
received BMW’s blessing to use such a similar naming
convention, says the model numbers are designed to help
consumers understand that clock speed isn’t everything,
and that cache size, bus speed, and architecture are also
important. Although specifics about the various classes
have yet to be disclosed, we do know that Intel’s naming
scheme will debut with the 3.6GHz P4 this summer.
Intel emphasizes that it won’t hide the clock speed of its CPUs in this new
system; instead, the company hopes people will look to the model number to guide
them to the level of performance they are willing to pay for, and then ask more
questions about cache size and bus speed among the CPUs offered in that tier.
Chip analyst Peter Glaskowsky said it won’t be easy for Intel to educate consumers,
but also believes that Intel has no choice. “Intel’s having more than enough trouble
explaining why a 1.6GHz Pentium M can get more work done on a battery charge
than a 2.8GHz Pentium 4. And it’s never been able to get people to understand why a
2.8GHz E processor is faster than a 3GHz A processor,” Glaskowsky said.
Does this mean Intel is hitting a wall in the clock speed race? Analyst Rob
Enderle doesn’t think so. “The effort has nothing to do with them hitting a
megahertz wall,” he said. Although Enderle believes the new naming scheme
will help Intel solve the problem of trying to explain to consumers the difference
between a P4EE, P4E, Centrino, and Celeron, he wishes the company had gone a
step further and standardized a performance metric instead.
“Frankly, I wish they had sat down with AMD and VIA and come up with a
number that’s consistent,” Enderle said.
“That’s what the customer would like.”Quick Start
ALT.OPINION.RANTS BY JON PHILLIPS
Thanks for nothing, Janet Jackson. Your teat-baring
stunt during Super Bowl XXXVIII was the culture-war
equivalent of the Archduke Ferdinand assassination.
Anti-smut absolutists have been skirmishing with
the ACLU for years, but in one fell swoop, you gave
Ashcroft’s Army the opening it’s been looking for.
We now have broadcasters cowering in fear of
FCC fines. You can’t watch reality TV without seeing
some warning to the effect of “Program may contain
adult material. Parental discretion is advised.” And
Clear Channel—the monolithic, holier-than-thou media
megacorp—has dropped Howard Stern from its sta-
tions. But we’re really just in the opening stages of a
protracted war against First Amendment rights. Post-
Janet Jackson, Attorney General John Ashcroft has
promised to step up a Justice Department war on inde-
cency, and this includes eliminating Internet porn.
Thus the focal point of this column: If you believe
that the Internet should continue to be the preeminent
vehicle for unfettered free speech, then you best pay
close attention to what the Bush Administration has
in store. We’re in the midst of an election year, and
a “let’s clean up the net campaign” would galvanize
vast numbers of people who don’t like the direction
America is heading.
Me? Most porn doesn’t offend me. I find the video
of the Joe Theisman injury to be more disturbing. I am
appalled, however, by the sheer amount of unsolicited
hardcore imagery that any man, woman or child might
encounter during day-to-day web-surfing. Porn entrepre-
neurs are relentless in their quest for new customers,
and as a result, we all must suffer popup ads and site-
redirects for content we never asked for. And, believe it
or not, many times I really do want a game walk-through
rather than screen grabs from Moulin Splooge.
When push comes to shove (there’s a triple-enten-
dre in their somewhere), the Internet must self-police
before anti-libertarians chip away at our rights. As
repugnant as hardcore porn might be to some, it’s still
protected under the law—we just shouldn’t expect
anyone to accept its uninvited flow onto their desk-
tops. So, in The World Where Phillips Calls The Shots,
any web site operator pushing pop-ups and redirects
containing porn would be vulnerable to fines and pros-
ecution. Likewise, the front doors of porn sites would
be devoid of hardcore imagery, and in order to get to
any actual porn within, an adult would have to qualify
his age with something more stringent than a “yes”
answer on a drop-down menu.
These are reasonable moves the online porn indus-
try should have adopted long ago. It’s a simple matter
of pushing the first domino away from Ashcroft’s grasp
before he knocks down the entire line.How To Disarm
Ashcroft’s Army
Jon Phillips was formerly editor-in-chief of Maximum PC ,
and now serves as the magazine’s editorial director.In the very near future,
the 3.6GHz Pentium 4
will be renamed
the Pentium 4 560.HAVE YOU BOUGHT A PC FROM
L COMPUTERS?
For that matter, has anyone?
We featured L Computers on our January 2004 cover for
the company’s audacious approach to high-end PC design,
even though we were skeptical about some of the hyped
technologies that were MIA in our test unit.
Now we’re even more skeptical. Despite announcements of even faster computers
and retail partnerships “soon,” Maximum PC has been unable to locate a single person
who’s purchased a computer from http://www.go-l.com. If you have—or if you’ve even tried—
we’d like to talk to you. E-mail us at [email protected].