CPU Speeds Vary--but Does PC User Care?

When you’re shopping for a new PC, one of your biggest decisions is what type of central processing unit to get. The CPU is not the only important component in a PC, but it tends to be the defining one. With some exceptions, PC makers bundle high-performance components with faster CPUs. But having a faster CPU doesn’t necessarily mean you have a better computer, and a PC with “Intel Inside” doesn’t necessarily mean anything at all.

Intel has spent a fortune building brand awareness, but based on numerous benchmarks and compatibility tests, there is nothing inherently superior about Intel CPUs. PCs with Advanced Micro Devices and Cyrix chips inside can run the same software as Intel CPUs. That said, Intel continues to lead the pack not only in quantities of units shipped but in research and development, especially at the high end.

Intel’s latest and greatest chip is the Pentium III, which should start showing up in PCs by March, according to Intel spokesperson Seth Walker. The first shipments will offer machines with clock speeds of 450 and 500 megahertz, and later in the year we can expect systems running at 600 MHz or higher. The new CPU will be the first microprocessor optimized for the Internet, Walker said.

Normally, I would be skeptical about any CPU maker’s claim that it can improve Internet access, because in the past, the bottleneck for online communications has always been the modem speed. However, the equation is starting to change.

First, an increasing number of users have high-speed connections via cable modems, DSL and other technologies, and as the connection speed increases, other factors of a PC’s performance start to matter. Second, Web sites are using graphics, video, audio, teleconferencing, speech-recognition and Java and ActiveX programs that take advantage of the CPU power as well as the PC’s memory, video display and other components.

We can also expect to see graphics applications, games and other programs designed specifically around the Pentium III’s new features. This isn’t to say that these programs won’t run on Pentium II machines, older Pentium and Pentium-class CPUs from AMD and Cyrix. In fact, the old 200-MHz Pentium at our house is still doing a great job even with some of the demanding 3D games my son plays.

The Pentium III will also have some new security features, including a unique serial number that, if turned on, can identify itself to software products and Web sites. The serial number can be used to enhance security in electronic commerce and positively authenticate your identity in chat rooms.

This feature prompted the Electronic Privacy Information Center (https://www.epic.org) to call for a boycott of Intel because of the potential privacy implications of a chip that can reveal the identity of its user. Intel promptly changed the specification on the chip so that, by default, it doesn’t reveal its serial number unless the user enables the feature. EPIC won’t be happy until the serial number feature is removed, but personally I feel OK about it as long as Intel makes good on its promise to give the user complete control.

While enticing power users with a faster and more powerful Pentium III, Intel has also beefed up its entry-level chip by revamping its Celeron CPUs.

When the Celeron first came out, it was widely criticized as being much slower than the Pentium II. Well, it was supposed to be a bit slower because it was a cheaper chip designed for cheaper PCs. But the new Celeron, boosted by high-performance L2 cache memory, is actually faster than the more expensive Pentium II.

PC Week’s labs tested machines with 366- and 400-MHz Celeron CPUs against similarly equipped systems with Pentium II CPUs and concluded that “as hard as it is to believe, Intel Corp.’s new 366-MHz and 400-MHz Celeron processors are just as fast as 350-MHz and 400-MHz Pentium II chips.” Intel’s Walker says the trade weekly was wrong and that Intel’s far more expensive Pentium II really is faster.

If all this seems confusing, welcome to the club. I sometimes wonder if Intel deliberately clouds the waters with an array of products aimed at different market sectors. The chip maker does have an interesting marketing challenge. Without a lower-cost CPU, it loses market share to AMD and Cyrix. But with widespread acceptance of its robust entry-level Celeron, it cannibalizes sales of its more lucrative Pentium II and, soon, Pentium III.

Intel’s strategy is to encourage PC makers to use the Celeron in sub-$1,000 desktop PCs and sub-$1,500 notebook machines and aim the Pentium II and Pentium III toward more expensive units. Most PC vendors go along with that logic and typically equip Pentium II systems with more memory, faster video cards and larger hard drives. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Gateway’s Web site, which lets you configure machines any way you want, features a $1,499 400-MHz Celeron machine with 64 megabytes of RAM, a 10-gigabyte hard drive and a 17-inch monitor, but you can order an otherwise identical machine with a Pentium II CPU for only $70 more. If you believe PC Week, the Celeron might be a bit faster, but if you believe Intel, you’ll get more for your money with the Pentium II.

All of this presupposes that speed is a major factor, but for many users, it’s not even an issue. Most of today’s software runs fine on any Pentium-class PC, and users are far more concerned with price, followed by ease of use, reliability and bundled software.

Mac users, by the way, once had an even more confusing array of CPU choices, but Steve Jobs simplified life by equipping all new Macs with PowerPC G3 processors running at different speeds. iMac buyers, however, are confronted by a choice of colors. My favorite is tangerine, but rumor has it that the strawberry iMac might run a bit faster.

Lawrence J. Magid can be reached at larry.magid@latimes.com. His Web page is at https://www.larrysworld.com. On AOL, use keyword “LarryMagid.”