Techreport reviews the new 600 series Pentium 4 2MB cache CPU

Omega65

Techreport compares the new Series 600 Pentium 4 CPUs to the previous P4 Series 500 and Extreme Editions along the AMD top performing Athlon 64 processors.

CPUs Compared:
Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz (S939)
Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (90nm)
Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz
Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4GHz
Athlon 64 FX-55 2.6GHz

Pentium M 755 2.0GHz
Pentium M 755 @ 2.4GHz

Pentium 4 540 3.2GHz
Pentium 4 550 3.4GHz
Pentium 4 560 3.6GHz
Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.4GHz
Pentium 4 570J 3.8GHz
Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.46GHz

Pentium 4 640 3.2GHz
Pentium 4 650 3.4GHz
Pentium 4 660 3.6GHz
Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73GHz

Intel's new CPU core packs fistful of enhancements over the original Prescott core. I'm gonna bust out the bullet points in order to give you the highlights.
<list>
<li>2MB of L2 cache — In terms of performance, this is the number-one change. The 600 series and the new Extreme Edition both pack a robust 2MB of L2 cache now, twice as much as older P4s.
<li>Enhanced power management — The 600 series finally brings Intel's Enhanced SpeedStep technology to the desktop. Previously used in Intel's mobile processors, SpeedStep dynamically scales CPU clock speed and voltage in response to load.
<li>64-bit extensions — Intel has dubbed its 64-bit extensions EM64T, for Extended Memory 64 Technology, but they are really just a functional clone of AMD's AMD64 extensions, first implemented in the Opteron processor a couple of years ago.
<li>Execute Disable Bit support — Like the 500J series processors, the new Intel core includes support for the Execute Disable Bit, also called the No Execute (NX) bit by AMD.</list>

Source: TechReport

csimon

"In fact, if you don't care about playing games on your PC, the Pentium 4 600 series is as good a choice as any."

Rewired

What is L2 Cache exactly?