Stephen and ALL, Article...But What About Katmai?...
March 15, 1999
Computer Gaming World : As this year wears on, Intel's newest CPU, Katmai, will become the CPU of choice for gamers. At press time, Intel was just announcing that Katmai's official product name would be Pentium III. And while this moniker won't send tremors through the industry, at least it isn't something silly like Celeron. Anyway, we thought seriously about putting a Katmai processor into the Power Rig this month, but because pricing information wasn't available--and because next-generation Intel processors tend to be very pricey early in their life cycle--we opted to stick with Pentium II for now. But Pentium IIIs will be shippin about the same time you're reading this, and you should take a good look at them to decide if the price difference is worth the investment. The reasons to get Pentium III are pretty compelling. With its Katmai New Instructions (KNI), Pentium IIIs will be able to make the front end of 3D graphics pipelines move along a good deal faster (upwards of 70 percent faster) than their predecessor, provided the game you're playing is Katmai-aware. A bit less compelling, but worth considering, is that Pentium III's top clock rate will debut at 500MHz. The Pentium III should drop into current 440BX motherboards, though you'll need a BIOS update.
If Pentium III's initial price tag feels too steep for your blood, you might consider the much less expensive 400MHz Celeron-A, and wait until Pentium IIIs make their way down the price curve. Given that Katmai-aware titles won't be out in any great number until the latter part of this year, Katmai's main benefit to gamers won't be greatly evident until then. |
