Celeron vs Pentium: Which Is Better?

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SUMMARY

Celeron processors are generally considered inferior to Pentium processors, particularly in terms of performance due to reduced cache and lower bus speeds. Specifically, Celeron processors often have their cache disabled and operate at a bus speed of 400 MHz compared to Pentium's 800 MHz, significantly impacting overall performance. While both Celeron and Pentium are compatible within the x86 family, the Celeron is primarily targeted at budget-conscious consumers and lightweight laptop users. Intel Centrino is recommended as a more suitable option for laptop processors.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of CPU architecture and performance metrics
  • Familiarity with Intel processor families, specifically Celeron and Pentium
  • Knowledge of cache memory and its impact on CPU performance
  • Basic comprehension of bus speed and its role in data transfer
NEXT STEPS
  • Research Intel Centrino technology and its advantages over Celeron and Pentium
  • Explore the differences in cache architecture between Celeron and Pentium processors
  • Learn about the impact of bus speed on overall system performance
  • Investigate real-world performance benchmarks comparing Celeron and Pentium processors
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for hardware enthusiasts, budget laptop buyers, and anyone evaluating processor options for lightweight computing tasks.

PhYsIcAlLy QuAnTuM
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I heard that celeron processors are much worse than pentium processors. And I even heard that celeron 2.40Ghz processors are compatible to P4 2Ghz processors. So, what's right? Is it that celerons are actually bad or..?
 
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well my personal opinion is that the celeron is primarily a processor for small lightweight low processing laptops...so for your ave person sort of deal, yes the p4 and p4 w HT is much better, the celeron can hold its own, but the P M is soon to be replaceing the celeron as the laptops primary processor i would think
 
Celerons are for people who don't really use their computers. They are slower but more reliable and take less power (so there good for lapdances).

I mean laptops.
 
Pengwuino said:
Celerons are for people who don't really use their computers. They are slower but more reliable and take less power (so there good for lapdances).

I mean laptops.

There's no evidence that Celeron processors are more reliable and take less power than Pentium. From Intel both Celeron and Pentium are good for laptops, but more appropriate is the Intel Centrino.

PhYsIcAlLy QuAnTuM said:
And I even heard that celeron 2.40Ghz processors are compatible to P4 2Ghz processors. So, what's right? Is it that celerons are actually bad or..?

Of course they are compatible (x86 family) with the same instruction sets. It depends on what you mean by 'compatible'.
Celerons, being designed for the cheap market, have performance tradeoff. They are poor in cache compared with Pentium yelding to much worse performance. I think that it is the popular name of Intel that helps with the sales of Celeron processors.
 
The older Celerons gave the newer ones a bad reputation. the Celeron is basically a Pentium of the same level with part of it's cache disabled and it's bus speed locked at a reduced level. Where a Pentium may have an 800 bus speed, the Celeron's bus speed is set at 400 on the newer models. In my opinion, this is a greater limitation than the lack of cache. Bus speed affects memory transfer, data transfer, printing speeds, just about everything the computer does. Cache has a greater or lesser affect depending on what you are doing. The combination of lower bus speed with a reduced cache, really affects performance because cache is high speed, on die, memory so it forces the CPU to go to slower off die memory, via a reduced speed bus.

That being said, I've got two Celeron computers a 1.1Ghz and a 2.8 Ghz and they both work great.
 

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