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Pentium II-400: The Great Leap Forward

Thanks to a faster bus and souped-up memory, Intel%squots new 350- and 400-MHz chips flat-out fly. But do you really need the speed?

By PC World staff   

Intel is the consummate flirt. With each new chip, the giant chip maker promises us speed, brawn, and sparkle, enticing us to buy yet another PC. The problem is, we%squotre getting bored with the relationship. The small advances in performance of the last year or so haven%squott set our hearts aflutter. But new systems built around the Pentium II-400 will.

By speeding up the system bus--a pipeline for moving data between the CPU, main memory, and other components--from 66 MHz to 100 MHz, Intel delivers dramatic performance gains with its new chips. On average, the 400-MHz Pentium II systems we tested on PC WorldBench 98, our business application benchmark, run 21 percent faster than PII-333s. Got your interest now?

Here%squots another plus: Prices are lower than you think. PII-400 systems (with 64MB of SDRAM, AGP graphics cards with 4MB of SGRAM, and 17-inch monitors) start at $2750 for a Hewlett-Packard Vectra VL Series 8, a corporate model, or $2863 for Gateway%squots GP6-400, a small-business or home-office system. To round out the field, we tested four other new PII-400s: the Compaq Deskpro EP Series, Model 6400, Dell Dimension XPS R400, Micron Millennia 400 DVD Edition, and NEC Direction SPB 400. Like all new PII-400s, they sport motherboards with Intel%squots new 440BX chip set and use 100-MHz SDRAM for main memory.

Vendors are also shipping PCs that feature Intel%squots other new processor, the Pentium II-350, as well as the snappier bus and new chip set. We tested three: the Dell Dimension XPS R350, Micron Millennia 350 DVD Edition, and NEC Direction SPB 350. Their average PC WorldBench score was an impressive 192, compared to 170 for the PII-333s.

Business Apps Have Never Looked So Dashing

The bottom line in the PC WorldBench results for the six 400-MHz systems: They all flew. We found only small differences among the PC WorldBench scores, which rate business-application speed. Micron%squots machine ran fastest, scoring 210; the Dell ran slowest, scoring 199. That%squots only a 6 percent difference. The NEC and HP each rated 207; the Gateway, 204; and the Compaq, 200.

To put these marks in context, consider the PC WorldBench scores earned by less muscular PCs. On average, the PII-400 systems run 21 percent faster than the PII-333s (PII-400 score of 205 versus PII-333 score of 170). The PII-400 is 29 percent faster than the PII-300 (205 versus 159), and 37 percent faster than the PII-266 (205 versus 150).

The performance gap is even wider when you compare the 400-MHz PCs to the Pentium MMX systems still sitting on many desks. The PII-400s%squot score is a stunning 67 percent higher than the average MMX-233 PC WorldBench score of 123. So it%squots no surprise that the Pentium MMX will be dropped from Intel%squots desktop lineup by the end of this year.

Will 350- or 400-MHz systems make a difference you%squotll notice in everyday business apps? You bet. But it%squotll depend on the specific task and the system you%squotre using now. For example, a 5MB Excel file opens and recalculates much faster on one of the new 100-MHz bus systems than on a 333-MHz Pentium II-based system. A book-length word processing file is much easier to handle on a 400-MHz PC than on a similarly configured 300-MHz machine.

But with small files? %dquotI couldn%squott tell the difference,%dquot said a PC World editor who participated in an informal test of the new systems. And the difference between the 350-MHz and 400-MHz systems? %dquotHard to tell,%dquot said one of our most adept spreadsheet jockeys.

What to Buy?

With the PII-350 and PII-400 chips, Intel has the high end of the market to itself. For now. AMD%squots fastest chip is the K6-300, which the company has not yet produced in significant volumes. Cyrix%squots best is its just-introduced MII-300, which, like the K6-300, runs on a 66-MHz bus (watch for a review in July%squots PC World). Both rivals of Intel have impressive plans for future high-performance products and both have excellent offerings for entry-level PC buyers, but nothing you%squotll be able to buy for three to six months is likely to top the performance of the PII-400, says analyst Mike Feibus of Mercury Research.

The new Pentium II-400 systems give you the best combination of price and performance for business and graphics applications we%squotve seen in some time. The new Pentium II-350 machines are excellent performers, but if you can afford the extra $150 to $200, go for the top of the line.

Nevertheless, you need to ask yourself: Do I really need that much speed? If you%squotre already working on a Pentium II-266 or better, the answer is probably no, unless you%squotre running draining graphics applications or games or are working with very large spreadsheet files. Even then, consider a new graphics card or additional system memory before you buy. And note the price you%squotll pay to step up in performance.

On the other hand, if you%squotre ready to upgrade an older Pentium-based system and can afford to spend $2700 or more, these new systems pack a performance boost you%squotll savor. Applications and large files open rapidly, graphics are fluid and much more realistic, and even enormous spreadsheets recalculate very quickly. Your system will be upgradable to the latest technology for at least a few years and you%squotd be hard pressed to find a software application that won%squott run at top speed on your system.

If those things sound good, take the leap.

For the complete story, see Laurianne McLaughlin%squots %dquotP II-400: The Great Leap Forward%dquot in June%squots PC World magazine.