Don't buy that new PC just yetIF YOU'RE in the market for a new desktop PC, we suggest that you keep your wallet in your pocket for just a few weeks more. The reason? Intel has just released a new breed of superchip, christened Core 2 Duo, which leaves even the mightiest Pentium processors eating its digital dust.
And despite taking a razor to the wholesale price of the former king of the CPU jungle, the new Core 2 Duo line remains relatively closely priced to the Pentium series while blazing past it in every stopwatch test. So if you've got your eye on a new PC, cool your heels and keep saving.
By the middle of next month you'll be able to buy a Core 2 Duo machine for not much more than today's Pentium-based desktops. If money is really tight, you can shop around for a Pentium system for much less than today's asking price.
Expert websites and respected technical magazines are reporting real-world gains of 30 per cent for recording and ripping video and 40 per cent for running Photoshop. The US online hub AnandTech.com found that even the cheapest Core 2 Duo chip outgunned Intel's Pentium Extreme Edition hot rod.
At the same time, the Core 2 Duo series are said to draw about 30 per cent less power than their predecessors, making them equal parts Schwarzenegger and Scrooge. It's the IT equivalent of enjoying howling V8 performance with the fuel economy of a four-cylinder sedan.
The reason is the chip's design. The Core 2 Duo is the first in what Intel expects to be a long line of processors built to a new specification called the Core micro-architecture.
"The Core micro-architecture is a complete departure from what the Pentium was based on. It's a complete redesign from the ground up," says Kate Burleigh, Intel's marketing manager.
This clean-sheet approach allowed Intel's engineers to use concepts and technologies unavailable in the late 1990s, when the last-generation Pentium 4 processor was on the drawing board. It unshackled the chip's designers from that era's obsession with raw speed and shifted the focus to processors that worked smarter instead of harder.
"The first time I saw the benchmark figures for the Core 2 Duo I just didn't believe it - I thought our engineers were kidding around with us!" Ms Burleigh recalls.
"What's really great is that the improvements are so readily apparent. It's very easy for consumers to see the benefits right away."
Those benefits aren't limited to doing everything faster, even if the Core 2 Duo is the most powerful desktop chip in Intel's 38-year history.
Because the new chip requires substantially less power and thus generates less heat, it reduces the need for noisy fans to reduce the PC's temperature. This should lead to smaller, quieter media-centre systems better suited to the living room.
When the notebook version of the Core 2 Duo arrives in the coming months, this trait will allow manufacturers to craft even sleeker and lighter laptops with improved battery life.
But for now, all eyes are on the desktop space as manufacturers roll out the first Core 2 Duo systems.
Typically quick off the mark is Dell, which will add the Core 2 Duo and the supercharged Core 2 Duo Extreme as optional powerplants in its forthcoming Dimension 9200 and XPS 700 machines.
"The Dimension 9200 desktop is designed for the multimedia needs of consumers and small businesses and will be followed by the XPS 700 gaming desktop, as well as Core 2-based notebooks and mobile workstations," says Jeff Morris, senior product manager with Dell Computer, who claims that in some cases the desktop chips deliver performance improvements "of up to 60 per cent compared to previous generation technology".
Hewlett Packard will introduce the Core 2 Duo into its media centre line, with the current Core Duo systems moving down to the middle rungs on the ladder.
"You'll get a much quieter PC because you don't need to have the fans running at full speed to keep the CPU cool," says HP Australia's Manpal Jagpal.
"On top of that, it's got the processing muscle you need in a media centre. If you're recording TV, for instance, the system is writing to the hard drive and compressing the video, and that needs a lot of processing power."
The Core 2 Duo signals the end of the line for the Pentium, which debuted in 1993. Over time it will also replace the Core Duo chips. Before the Pentium brand is put out to pasture, Intel expects it to make a final run in the low-cost desktop paddock.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/08/08/1154802893859.html
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