Benchmark results continued more

Conclusion

Ever since Windows 95 which commenced a true versatile home PC revolution there has been steady progress in all the individual components that form this useful invention. The personal computer of yesterday is not the workstation of today now becoming a truthfully central part in many households featuring not only word processing facilities but also a wealth of multimedia capability all in one. This in itself has brought the necessity for yet more processing power taking on the not so humble tasks of video/audio editing only several years being performed only in professional studios.

When something matures it need not necessary be thought in dim light, the Pentium 4 is one such example. Since its launch we have gone from fast to faster in more ways than just clock speed. Originally it suffered a poor performance ratio to its direct competitor (AMD Athlon) but now has emerged refined able to match and even comfortably surpass what is now AMD’s Athlon XP. The added value of increased L2 cache, FSB/memory bandwidth, and Hyper Threading not forgetting a healthy rise in clock speed all contribute to its benefit. Gone are the days where recommending a Pentium 4 was not without its cost or issues, now has arrived the best time to own one thanks to it now having possession of many features it so craved for right from the beginning. How long this will last rests much on AMD’s efforts with the Athlon 64 and it is now much their goal to steal Intel’s thunder once more as was the case arguably back in the days of the Pentium III where the Athlon stood firmly denting much into previously Intel’s desktop market share. For now at least owning a Pentium 4 seems more enjoyable than ever, one either may appreciate its lively stock all-round performance or fun overclocking potential easily clocking to speeds in the past only obtainable with the added help of water cooling. The Athlon XP has had its moment in the limelight but now sadly desperately calls for a strong revision to once again shine against Intel’s new baby, the Pentium 4C. Such as statement ends the dilemma many currently have, presently 800MHz FSB, Hyper Threading, and 3.2GHz clock speed seem so difficult to resist.

Intel’s D875PBZ motherboard proves to be a vastly stable and efficient platform with the added benefits of onboard RAID (and soon RAID 1) and CSA Gigabit LAN. A sensible board layout together with a respectable name in the IT industry standing behind it steer or at least draw the end user into seriously taking it into consideration upon building a Canterwood setup. We liked how the word “silence” rang to Intel’s ears by using only a large aluminium heatsink instead of the louder and more imposing fan design many other manufactures so choose to incorporate into their own boards. Now with the latest P07 BIOS available it has solved many issues first present on this motherboard including much haunted memory compatibility now very much a thing of the past. The only item of reference worth noting that strictly prohibits us from recommending it to everyone is its built-in albeit limited overclocking features. This is bound to not appeal to all and as such hardcore users should look elsewhere for pleasure in tuning their system. What it lacks it gains in other ways this time through its wealthy inclusion of software. Granted most are special editions they still hold value for most users who may find their features strictly enough for the tasks asked before them. Along with Canterwood came the whistle to finally permit a growth in Serial ATA hard drive usage now integrated rather than supported via add-in cards often being a hassle and further placing load on the already much used PCI bus. Backed by an end user friendly 3 year warranty puts less strain and more gain on owning one, a warranty period offered by few others that we think is a shame. In closing the black D875PBZ is about stability, quality and value, what it isn’t is an overclocker’s dream come true. With this we highly recommend it for the worth it carries made by Intel for Intel.

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