Intel on Monday launched its latest Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor for high-performance desktop PCs, such as game systems.
The new chip runs at 3.46GHz, a slight increase in clock speed from the previous version, and incorporates 2MB of cache that enlarges its main pool of onboard memory to boost performance. The chip also features a 1,066MHz front-side bus, which speeds up the movement of data back and forth from the chip to memory. One snag, however, has already arisen for the new Extreme Edition Pentium 4. Reviews of the chip--an important consideration for would-be buyers--are fairly scathing. Many conclude that the new chip brings little in the way of extra performance.
"The 3.46EE does manage to outperform its 3.4GHz/800MHz (front side bus) predecessor, but the margin of improvement is negligible," wrote Anand Lal Shimpi of Anandtech. Several other reviewers echoed similar sentiment.