Intel Celeron Review

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Intel Celeron
3.9 stars
Average rating for this product is: 3.9 out of 5

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amarmish's Review of Intel Celeron Processor

15th Nov 2005

Overall Rating

1.5 stars
  • Value for money
    2.5 stars
  • Ease of Set Up
    3.5 stars
  • Time Processor Owned
    6 - 12 Months
Good Points

The Celerons that Intel first introduced as a low-cost CPU alternative (266 & 300MHz versions) were basically just Pentium-II's without any L2 cache at all. This deficiency really punished Celeron performance when compared to competitive AMD and Cyrix chips. In response, subsequent Celeron versions (300A and up) were provided with 128KB of L2 cache. Though only one-quarter the size of the Pentium cache, it was built to run at the full speed of the respective CPU, rather than at half-speed, as in the Pentiums. Due to its higher manufacturing cost and technical issues, the larger Pentium cache memory has always been set to run at only half the speed of the CPU itself. For a full-speed L2 in a Pentium design, you need to get into Intel's (much more expensive) Xeon line. What Intel plays down, but nearly everyone knows, is that the full-speed, quarter-size Celeron cache gives them almost the same performance as the half-speed, full-size cache gives Pentiums. Thus you'll find that, for most applications, Celerons rated at the same MHz will equal or better an equivalent Pentium-II, for a much lower price.


General Comments

The Celerons that Intel first introduced as a low-cost CPU alternative (266 & 300MHz versions) were basically just Pentium-II's without any L2 cache at all. This deficiency really punished Celeron performance when compared to competitive AMD and Cyrix chips. In response, subsequent Celeron versions (300A and up) were provided with 128KB of L2 cache. Though only one-quarter the size of the Pentium cache, it was built to run at the full speed of the respective CPU, rather than at half-speed, as in the Pentiums. Due to its higher manufacturing cost and technical issues, the larger Pentium cache memory has always been set to run at only half the speed of the CPU itself. For a full-speed L2 in a Pentium design, you need to get into Intel's (much more expensive) Xeon line. What Intel plays down, but nearly everyone knows, is that the full-speed, quarter-size Celeron cache gives them almost the same performance as the half-speed, full-size cache gives Pentiums. Thus you'll find that, for most applications, Celerons rated at the same MHz will equal or better an equivalent Pentium-II, for a much lower price.

Celeron @ 466MHz x 128KB L2 @ 466MHz =>
Pentium-II @ 450MHz x 512kB L2 @ 225MHz

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