Celeron Vs. Pentium 4 Performance
More than 40 years ago, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore predicted a computer chip's transistors would shrink in size but double in number every 18 to 24 months. Over the decades, advanced manufacturing processes have redeemed that promise of Moore's Law, allowing Intel to turn out powerhouse processors like the Pentium 4 and multicore Celeron. Let's see how these two chips, packed with more and more circuits, fare in head-to-head comparison.
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Core Clock Speed
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One important consideration when comparing Intel chips is their raw processing power as defined by the core clock speed. The Pentium 4 line represents Intel's fastest processor at 1.3 gigahertz (GHz) to 3.8 GHz. The Intel Celeron, a multicore processor, ranges from 266 megahertz (MHz) to 3.6 GHz.
Front-Side Bus
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Front-side bus is almost as important as core clock speed since it determines how quickly an individual processor communicates with others as well as such external devices as memory. This is especially important with dual-core processors like the Celeron, which has a front-side bus range of 66 MHz to 1,066 MHz. The Pentium 4 line front-side bus ranges from 400 MHz to 1,066 MHz.
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Celeron Features
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The Celeron offers Intel's Wide Dynamic Execution (WDE), which enables a more effective use of the clock cycle, improving energy efficiency. Additional features include Smart Memory Access, which makes better use of the internal L1- L3 cache to store operational commands and maximize bandwidth. With all this optimization, media applications are not excluded with Advanced Digital Media Boost, which speeds up the compression and execution of video and music files.
Pentium 4 Features
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The Pentium 4 is a single-core processor meant for high-end desktop and laptop central processing units. Originally released in November 2000, it has seen significant improvements in both features and construction process. The Pentium 4 was Intel's first product to release the SSE2 and SSE3 instruction sets, which increased calculations, transactions, media processing, 3-D graphics and games. Later versions would also introduce hyperthreading to replicate the function of multiple-core processors.
Conclusion
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When comparing individual Intel processors, it is important not only to observe clock speed and front-side bus, but individual features as well. While the Pentium 4 is the stronger processor, it has only a single core and uses software to replicate multiple cores. This is not nearly as effective as true multiple-core processors like the Celeron. The Celeron is also intended as a medium-budget processor to compete with the AMD Athlon, making it less expensive then comparable Pentium 4s, which are being phased out.
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