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BUYING GUIDES - Buying a new Processor

Introduction Buying Guides - Home

Major Processors Intel Celeron Intel Pentium II Intel Pentium III AMD K6-2 AMD K6-3 AMD Athlon Cyrix MII

Buying a New Processor? 1. Intel Celeron There are two types of Intel Celeron available. One version is the so-called Slot-1version, which fits in a Slot-1 motherboard, while the other is the Socket 370 (or PPGA) version, which fits in a Socket 370 motherboard. The names refer to the physical construction of the processors, but the performance is identical for both types, but Socket 370 is significantly cheaper (both the CPU and the Socket 370 motherboards). Celeron CPU's of the Slot 1 variant are available in two variants: the 266Mhz and 300Mhz version do not contain any internal cache and thus are very slow - avoid these at all costs. The 300Mhz version A (called 300A) does have cache, as do all faster versions and thus are very attractive. All Socket 370 Celerons also contain cache. Speed currently range from 266Mhz to 500Mhz (but faster version are on the horizon). Generally (as with all Intel processor ranges) the next-fastest CPU is significantly cheaper than the fastest, so currently a 466Mhz Celeron is better value than the 500Mhz. For general PC use, including packages such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access, a Celeron 400 or faster provides more than enough speed, but gamers may well want to invest in the 500Mhz version. Overall the Celeron CPU is a great bargain - it provides the same performance as the Pentium II (at identical Mhz) at a fraction of the cost. This CPU basically has it all and should be the CPU most people buy. Prev | Next