Intel Pentium 4 2.0GHz: The clock strikes two

Next Stop: Northwood

The 2.0GHz Pentium 4 will be Intel’s last Willamette based processor launch.  Around November you can expect to see Intel’s first 0.13-micron Pentium 4 based on the Northwood core debut at 2.2GHz. 

The 2.2GHz Northwood, as we reported months ago, will feature a 512KB L2 cache.  The performance improvements from a larger L2 cache will be particularly evident in large dataset professional applications, newer 3D games, and heavy office/IT usage patterns.  Northwood will also be available in a Socket-478 form factor and will work on current Socket-478 motherboards with a BIOS update.

The 0.13-micron manufacturing process will decrease the manufacturing cost of the Pentium 4 (although the doubling of the L2 cache size will reduce some of the cost savings) and enable cooler operation.  The cost savings won’t directly be transferred to the end user as the 2.2GHz Northwood is expected to debut at close to $600 in 1,000 unit quantities.