It's not so long ago that Intel officially bid adieu to the outdated and slow 100 MHz FSB clock by introducing the P4/2533. And now it's back again. However, we find that it makes little sense to re-introduce processors with 100 MHz FSB, even if marketing strategists want to make it attractive for OEM manufacturers who still have old 100 MHz FSB boards in stock. There is a stark difference in performance compared to CPUs with 133 MHz FSB, which is clearly shown in our extensive benchmark results.

AMD Responds: Athlon XP 2800+ Coming Up In October

The next step in evolution for the AMD Athlon has been planned: the manufacturer is going to launch an Athlon XP 2800+ based on the new Thoroughbred B core. In the previous comparison , we showed how overclockable the Athlon XP 2600+, which officially runs at 2133 MHz, is. We were easily able to overclock it to a stable 2400 MHz, using a conventional CPU cooler. This clock speed corresponds to an Athlon XP 3000+. AMD has to be on the offensive when it reacts to the P4/2800, so it's obvious that the Athlon XP 2800+ will be launched by the end of October at the latest. As the past has shown, AMD cannot afford to lose ground with regard to clock speed.

Comparison: 12 Different Chipsets For P4

The table below lists all chipsets for the Socket 478 platform. In any case, if you count the chips that are soon to come, there is a total of 12 different chips from Intel, SiS and VIA for the Pentium 4. Regarding the best performance, the Intel chipsets should be well-positioned, while VIA's P4X chipset, which, strictly speaking, does not have a license, is at somewhat of a disadvantage. The development at SiS is interesting: the manufacturer has a license and is working on the SiS 658, which is the first chipset from this company with a Rambus memory interface.