Thanks to leebobs for this interesting spot of news.
"...the debut of a processor based on a cutting-edge process technology and architecture that only offers the same performance level as the predecessor is unanticipated..."
The release of Intel's Prescott line of processors has given rise to claims that the processor is no more than an instrument of mass marketng hype! Despite 1 MB L2 cache, and some optimizations, Prescott is shown to be considerably slower than Northwood in a third of benchmarks ran by popular hardware enthusiast sites such as Tom's Hardware and AnandTech.
"We should as well put the considerable heat dissipation onto the list, as the Prescott offers no improvement in this increasingly important category. Users willing to upgrade their socket 478 systems are left out in the rain due to the uncertain compatibility situation and last but not least Prescott is badly overclockable
What we do not understand is why Intel presents a new technology, flavored with lots of marketing-friendly numbers, only few months in advance of a platform change. So what is the meaning of this "average Prescott" we were given today? The introduction of SSE3 cannot possibly be that important. We only found one benchmark supporting the new instructions, and it does not even benefit from it. At existing clock speeds, Prescott is not faster than Northwood and is thus a pretty useless product, as the socket is meant to be phased out shortly anyway."
"If you're looking for nothing more than a purchasing decision let's put it simply: if you're not an overclocker, do not buy any Prescott where there is an equivalently clocked Northwood available."