In today market there
are 3 main types of microprocessors to choose from (new and old):
- INTEL Pentium or Celeron that fits Socket 478
- The old INTEL Pentium III or Celeron that fits Socket
370
- The AMD family that fits Socket A
The Pentium/Celeron
processors are manufactured by Intel, while the Athlon/Duron/Barton etc. CPUs
are produced by AMD.
When choosing the processor, pay
special attention to the type of your motherboard. A concrete processor
requires a specific slot on the motherboard to install. For example, the Socket
A motherboards are designed for the AMD processors, while the Socket 370 or
Socket 478 are for the Intel processors only. It is possible to change the AMD
Duron 950MHz to the AMD Athlon XP2500+ without changing the motherboard, but
there is no possibility to change the Intel Celeron 1.1GHz or Pentium III
1.2GHz to the Intel Pentium IV (though more faster Intel Celeron models are
designed for Socket 478!).
Theoretically any computer can be
running Windows as well as some of the loaded application software. The
question is that how long does it take for the computer to start it. It's very
clear that the Pentium IV system can manage this task faster than the 486 one!
So, choosing the processor, buy the highest speed your budget can allow.
We will examine, in short, the
advantages and disadvantages of the mentioned CPUs.
Pentium
IV
The best, but the very
expensive choice. This is the fastest and more productive processor today.
Disadvantages: Incompatibility with the older computer hardware and, of course,
the high price. Earlier models of Pentium IV are working only with Rambus
computer memory. Now for this type of CPUs the SDRAM DIMMs are
available.
Pentium III
A good processor which does not
have compatibility problems with other computer parts and possesses a good
productivity. There is only one issue. This CPU type has been dropped by Intel.
It is available only for bundle purchases (for example, along with the
motherboard) or for mobile computer installations. The last models of Pentium
III have an outstanding speed for this type of CPU of 1.40GHz. Disadvantages:
you can upgrade it to Pentium III or Celeron processors only, not P4.
Celeron
A cheap processor which is
seventh heaven for overclockers (overclocking means forcing the engine of your
computer to run faster than it is made to run.) It does not have an awesome
productivity, but has an exceptional ability for overclocking. For example, the
900MHz model of Celeron can be overclocked up to 1300MHz.
However, today Celeron CPUs come
with the speed over 1.2GHz. Moreover, there are models designed for Socket 478!
The only disadvantage is a small cache size which impacts on the performance of
CPU as well as on the whole system productivity. Some of the many AMD CPU's are
Duron
The very cheap, fast and reliable
processor. The Duron can be overclocked but it is difficult unless your
motherboard will let you change the system bus speed (usually referred to as
FSB). The CPU just ignores the change if you try changing the multiplier.
Athlon
The fast, cheap, easy to upgrade
processor. AMD has consistently brought us an excellent range of processors,
firstly as a much welcome alternative to the overpriced Intel range, and now as
the favoured processor among video professionals and many power users. Overall,
every model of this CPU offers top performance (and it means really top
performance) at a very good price compared to Intel's alternative.
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