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Information about Intel processors. 

Guide to choose Intel Processors.

 

Intel processors have taken the lion’s share of the processor market in spite of competing products.


So for building or upgrading your PC, Intel CPU is not only a brand name. It’s a guarantee to find high-performance processors for your particular requirements.


Intel market a range of processors capable to satisfy the usual factors you may consider before purchasing any CPU.

 

Clock speed


Intel offer different performance level of speed to make easy a range of choice at your convenience. From 1.8 GHz to 3.8 GHz you can decide how fast the processor can process your data.

 

Front Side Bus (FSB)


As another important performance indicator you should be looking at, FSB measured the speed transferred between the CPU and the RAM memory. It operates as a memory hub or a channel and you can choose Intel processors with a variation of FSB from 400 GHZ to 1066 GHz.

 

Level-2 Cache or L2 Cache


L2 Cache is a temporary storage area your Intel processors use to store your frequently used data. So you can have a much more quick access to your data without having recourse to your RAM.


By the way L2 Cache is an area of considerably fast memory. Intel CPU gives access to your PC at different L2 Cache capacity with a range from 128 KB up to 2 MB. So the larger of the capacity of the L2 Cache, the better performance you get.

 

The Core name


Intel uses core name to identify the purposes of each family, compare each and to facilitate your choice. By example if you want to purchase a Pentium 4 many versions are available in terms of specifications such as Willamette, Northwood or Prescott.


Of the more interest nowadays is the Pentium 4 and you’ll find it in different core names such as Willamette, Northwood, Prescott, Gallatin or Smithfield.

 

The Socket number


The sockets are providing by the motherboards which enable you to connect the CPU to the system. So when you see these Intel processors sockets number such as 478, 423, 475…you automatically know what mainboard is able to attach it.


Just to give you an idea of what is available on the market, here is a table of some Intel processors. This table is by no means exhaustive and it exist different versions and many variations you might evaluate.

 

 

 

Intel processors

characteristics

Socket

Core

Clock Speed

Front-Speed

Bus

L2 Cache

Celeron

478

Northwood

2.1 to 2.2 GHz

400 MHz

128 KB

Celeron

478

Prescott

2.4 to 2.8 GHz

533 MHz

256 KB

Celeron

478

Willamette

1.8 GHz

 

400 MHz

128 KB

Celeron

478

Prescott

2.9 to 3.2 GHz

533MHz

256

Pentium 4

423

Willamette

1.4 to 1.5 GHz

400 MHz

256 KB

Pentium 4

478

Willamette

1.5 to 2.0 GHz

400 MHz

256 KB

Pentium 4

478

Northwood

1.6 to 2.2 GHz

400 MHz

512 KB

Pentium 4

478

Northwood

2.6 to 2.8 GHz

800 MHz

512 KB

Pentium 4

478

Northwood

3.4 GHz

800 MHz

512 KB

Pentium 4

478

Gallatin

3.4 GHz

800 MHz

512 KB

Pentium 4

775

Smithfield

2.8 to 3.8 GHz

800 MHz

1 MB

Pentium 4

775

Prescott

3.8 to 3.8 GHz

1066 MHz

2 MB



 

Now you are in a much better situation to compare each model and to make a good choice. However there are other factors you ought to consider as well. Some of the Intel processors models are simple while others come with features and enhancements.


If you are so curious or are looking for much better technology, you can find much more details on the Intel processor identification page.