HOT! An Early Look At The New Pentium III (Tualatin or Coppermine-T?)

Oopsa!

Intel's new Pentium III baby and its big brother 'Coppermine'

As proper computer hardware reviewers we are nowadays used to receive upcoming processors fresh from the manufacturer, excited about the opportunity to run early tests, but instantly tied to those infamous NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) that shut us up for the time being. We were more than surprised when we suddenly found a bundle with a crying Pentium III 1.13 of new design lying in front of our doorstep. Of course we wouldn't let this CPU suffer out in the cold, far from its mum in Satan Clara! So we took it in, put it in a warm and comfy motherboard and gave it the 1.5 V core voltage it asked for to still its power hunger.

Tualatin Or Coppermine-T?

The front view shows that Intel has learned and is now saving the delicate core of the new Pentium III generation.

Now since the little processor-baby wasn't deliberately sent by his mum with the usual introduction letter, we are not so sure how we have to call it. Is it 'Tualatin' or 'Coppermine-T'? Does its heart beat according to a 0.13 or 0.18 micron process? Does it make any difference anyway? We don't know if our little fellow is a 'Tualatin' or a 'Coppermine-T', but we do know that our baby comes with only 256 kB of second level cache, which is just as much as its numerous brothers and sisters out there, that used to be the common members of the Pentium III family (Coppermine-tribe). It told us that some of its brothers and sister have 512 kB L2-cache, which might make them a bit stronger with certain software. Unfortunately, those siblings of our little toddler haven't found their way to our lab yet. It will only be a question of time ...

While both guys fit in Socket370, the new Tualatin/Coppermine-T has still a slightly different backside.