Conclusion: An Expensive Facelift
If we directly compare the 500 and 600 series families, the conclusion we arrive at is very clear: the new version clearly is the better processor, even though its doubled cache size does not make that much of an impact. Thanks to features such as EM64T 64-bit extensions, the Execute Disable Bit, Thermal Monitoring 2, the Enhanced Halt State and Enhanced SpeedStep, the new 2 MB Prescott finally meets the standard of being a processor that is both fast and reasonable in feature set and power consumption.
Normally a BIOS update should be enough to allow the new 600 processors run on the LGA775 motherboards out there. At only 2.8 GHz minimum clock speed and a reduced core voltage, the new processors no longer get alarmingly hot. This means temperature-controlled fans will finally be able to decrease their rotation speed. In short: the new P4 is what many users have been waiting for.
Yet as we have pointed out before, its feature list sounds very familiar: AMD has been offering 64-bit capability since Fall 2003, even though only a few users have been able to really benefit from it. The Execute Disable bit has been part of the Athlon64 - known as NX (non execute) - and demands for quiet and energy-efficient computers were answered by AMD's Cool & Quiet.
We would like to call the recent Pentium 4 a "face-lifted Prescott," since all the actions Intel took help to improve an existing product, but don't change its fundamentals. And given this, we must wonder why Intel is asking the user to pay so much more for features that cannot be called truly innovative. The new models really offer differ from the 500 series in offering SpeedStep and the larger cache. Why does this have to cost between 25 and 45% more?
In the coming months, Intel is going to make some real news in their Pentium 4 family. The best example will be the virtualization technology called Vanderpool or VT. We can only hope that Intel will not use this as another excuse to raise prices.
For more information on VT, please check the Intel website .
