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AnchorDesk

John Morris and Josh Taylor
Why the new Pentium 4s won't be here for long

John Morris and Josh Taylor
Contributing Editors, AnchorDesk
Friday, May 10, 2002
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Intel is speeding things up again with yet another Pentium 4 update. This time, it's a chip set/CPU combination that increases not only the processor's clock speed to a maximum of 2.53GHz, but gives the whole system a little more headroom, thanks to a faster frontside bus (FSB).

Though the new processor setup will undoubtedly make for speedier systems, it is not without flaws. The chip set, dubbed the 850E, supports only PC800 RDRAM (800MHz), rather than the next-generation RIMM 4200 (1.06GHz), and it doesn't include support for USB 2.0 or UltraATA/133.

However, one of the first desktop systems we've tested with the 850E-based motherboard and 2.53GHz P4 processor, Dell's Dimension 8200, did deliver performance scores on applications and 3-D graphics beyond what our labs have ever seen, though by a margin of only 5 to 7 percent.

Because of some of its limitations, we get the feeling this processor-chip set tandem might not be around too long. But if you've got to have the fastest PC on the planet, this new technology is the ticket--at least for today.

Pentium 4: The next generation
Read Review

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Jessica Kashiwabara contributed to this column.

Are you raring to try a PC with the new P4? Why or why not? TalkBack to us!

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