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Revent months have seen a great deal of attention given to AMD's Athlon and Intel's new "Coppermine" Pentium III processors, it would be easy to forget Intel's budget processor the Celeron. After a gap of many months, Intel has finally released a new Celeron in the shape of the Celeron 533, and so the budget PC market can finally pass the 500 MHz mark. So what does the first Celeron of the year 2000 bring? Well to find out, read on. Intel Celeron 533, What's new?The Celeron 533 is very much the latest iteration of the current Celeron line up. All that is new here is the clock speed of 533 MHz, everything else remains very much the same. Like every Celeron since the 300A in 1998 the Celeron 533 is based upon the 0.25 micron "Mendocino" core. The "Mendocino" is an Intel P6 core with 128 Kb Level 2 cache integrated onto the processor die and runs at full clock speed. It still uses the 66 MHz bus, as in previous Celeron processors, and does not feature Intel's SSE instruction set which is found in the Pentium III. To reach 533 MHz whilst using a 66 MHz bus speed, the Celeron 533 uses a very high clock multiplier of 8X bus speed. As with all current Intel processors, the clock multiplier is locked on the Celeron 533, meaning that users can not manually adjust it. Like all Celeron processors from 466 MHz and above the Celeron 533 is only manufactured in the PPGA (Plastic Pin Grad Array), Socket 370 form factor. There are no Slot 1 Celeron 533s. Perfomance wise, the Celeron 533 brings yet another increase in performance to the impressive Celeron range of processors, though there are now a few signs of age appearing with the rather elderly "Mendocino" core. The main drawback of the Celeron 533 is the fact that it is restricted to using the 66 MHz bus. This is now beginning to show performance drawbacks in many memory intensive applications, though it's fast level 2 cache does give it better performance in many games, with the Celeron 533 being beaten by the FC-PGA Pentium III 500. Another potentail drawback for the Celeron 533 is it's lack of SSE instructions, which now appear to be beginning to make an impact with developers now creating software which can take advantage of it. This will be more of an issue for those interested in games as SSE support is increasingly being implemented in many new titles. Luckily though, the strong Floating Point performance of the Celeron 533 will ensure that this does not become an issue for some time yet. Although the lack of SSE instructions and only a 66 MHz bus may sound like disadvantages, there are also a number of advantages possessed by the Celeron 533, especially over Intel's new PC-PGA Pentium III 500 and 550 MHz processors. The main advantage for the Celeron 533 is that it gives users of older motherboards, such as those based upon the LX chipset, an upgrade option in excess of 500 MHz. The Celeron 533 makes an excellent upgrade processor as it only uses a 66 MHz bus speed and DOES NOT require the new VRM 8.4 voltage regulation standard. The VRM 8.4 standard is the main reason for keeping the FC-PGA Pentium III out of all but the most recent Socket 370 based motherboard. This includes many Socket 370 boards based upon the Intel BX chipset too. Intel Celeron 533, The verdict.With the Celeron 533 we see the last of the 0.25 micron "Mendocino" Celeron processors from Intel. The next iteration of the Celeron will be based upon Intel's new "Coppermine" design, though unlike the Pentium III, the Celeron III (yes this is what Intel will call it) will only have 128 Kb Level 2 cache, but it will use the 100 MHz bus. With this new Celeron looming on the horizon it become increasingly difficult to recommend the Celeron 533 with it's 66 MHz bus speed and no SSE support. That said, the Celeron 533 is a very fast processor at a very reasonable price, and those looking for the "best bang for their buck", it is still a contender. Sytstems built around the Celeron 533 will not be slow. It also is an upgraders dream, as it will keep many older LX based motherboards around for some time yet, and will allow their owners to avoid the current chipset confusion which is happening with the new i820, i815 and VIA Apollo Pro 133 chipsets at the moment.
If you want a cheap fast PC, the Celeron 533 is definitely a contender, but with the new Celeron III looming on the horizon, it may be wise
to think just a bit before making any purchasing decisions.
Other Intel Processors at:
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