INTEL Pentium 4E 2.8GHz review

It's not new, it's not 64-bit and its clock speed doesn't begin with a '3', but our best processor is one huge bargain.

In the six months since its launch, Intel's Pentium 4E processor has proved itself a great all-round performer that is equally suited to games, video and everyday Windows applications. The price of the 2.8GHz version makes it the best value of the whole range.

For many years budget to mid-range processors have offered far better value for money than Intel's and AMD's flagship chips. Processors such as Intel's Pentium 4 Extreme Edition or AMD's Athlon 64 FX-53 may offer extra performance but you have to pay a massive premium for the cutting-edge technology.

The best value is to be found in the more established products, and our judges quickly narrowed down our shortlist to the Pentium 4E, Athlon XP and Athlon 64 processor families. Pentium 4E is based on Intel's Prescott core, which has more level 1 and level 2 cache than its predecessor, Northwood, and is based on Intel's advanced 90nm fabrication process. When Pentium 4E launched its inflated pricing was uncompetitive, as the extra cache made it only a little quicker than Northwood chips. But today Prescott processors cost no more than Northwood chips and give you a performance boost for free.

Athlon XP was ruled out of the award because, although it is fantastic value and compatible motherboards can be picked up very cheaply, it's really suitable only for budget PCs. Even the fastest Athlon XP chips fall short of the processing power you need for demanding applications such as video editing.

Our judges argued for considerably longer over the relative merits of Pentium 4E and Athlon 64. Their pricing is comparable, and Athlon 64 offers the promise of improved performance when AMD64-optimised software becomes available. However, we've learned to pay greatest attention to performance with existing software. In our July 2004 Labs Pentium 4E convincingly outperformed the equivalent Athlon 64 in SYSmark2004, 3DMark03 and our XMPEG video encoding test.

Pentium 4E requires a Socket 478 motherboard with a Prescott-compatible BIOS. A good example with an Intel 865PE chipset can be picked up for around £60. In our benchmarks, a 2.8GHz Pentium 4E provides 75 per cent of the power of a top-of-the-range processor such as a 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition or the new Socket 775 Intel Pentium 4 560, both of which cost well over £400. The money saved can be spent on a top-notch GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics card.

Pentium 4E may not be the perfect processor for everyone and the upgrade potential of a Socket 478 system is limited by Intel's move to Socket 775. But it's a great choice for most mainstream applications, and the 2.8GHz component is a steal.

Expert's verdict

"Gave the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition a good run for its money in our tests."

Editor's verdict

"No other processor offers such an attractive combination of speed and value."