[Vulcan]

hey....

could someone please shed some light on the pentium 4 series ??

the 1.6 ghz and above come in several flavours : 423/478 pin , 0.13/0.18 micron and with 256/512 cache...

what is the difference ?is it that important to the home user ?? (Games\divx)

and how come one motherboard, the intel 850 support them all ??(does it really ??)
thanks !!

[sapiens74]

The cache means better performance, and they are about the same price so go with the better one. The newer "A" models use the .13 micron and use less Voltage so you get less heat.

THe 423/478 pin count they perform the same.

They make different flavor mb with the 423 and 478 sockets, the 478 being the newer one.

[Sampson]

Just to answer your last question, the 850 supported Rambus ram, which, for a while, was Intel's preferred memory solution. Some feel that in the future Rambus will not be supported by Intel. This remains to be seen. The P4 can utilize SDram and DDR ram also. The .18 micron chip and SDram are soon to become relics.

What I am saying is that in addition to the "Flavors" of the P4 are the species of motherboards which support the P4 in different ways and with different memory solutions: 850 (rambus), Intel-DDR, SIS, and VIA.

[SHS]

I thougth 478 pin was both 0.18/0.13 micron depend on the CPU speed

[BladeRunner]

Pentium 4's:

Socket 423, 0.18 Micron, 256k cache

1.3Ghz - 2.0Ghz available (In .1Ghz jumps)

Socket 478, 0.18 Micron, 256k cache

1.5Ghz - 2.0Ghz available (In .1Ghz jumps)

Socket 478, 0.13 Micron, 512k cache

1.6Ghz, 1.8Ghz, 2.0Ghz, 2.2Ghz, 2.4Ghz available

Notes:

Socket 423 is already dead, there will be no CPU faster than the currently available 2.0Ghz in this format.
S423 CPU's, despite the name, are actually bigger than the S478 ones.
Socket 478 CPU's on 0.18 Micron are coming to the end of their life.
No new CPU's are being produced and PC manufacturers will just be ridding themselves of now old stock.
Socket 478 CPU's on 0.13 Micron all carry the Northwood "A" designation.
If the CPU speed is followed by an "A" for example 1.8a then it will be on the 0.13 Micron process and have 512k cache.
New CPU's due soon will carry the Northwood "B" designation.
These too will be S478, 0.13 Micron, 512k cache however they will use a quad-pumped 133Mhz FSB as opposed to the quad-pumped 100Mhz FSB on ALL current P4's.

[Vulcan]

thanks !!