Intel's Pentium 4 670: Just Another Speed Bump

Final Words

So, what is the final verdict? There are cases where the 670 performs better than the 570 and cases where it performs worse. It all comes back to the differences between the two processors. Running with the Pentium 4 670, some applications benefit from having more cache, and other suffer due to the higher latency.

To recap, applications that stream data (encoding and rendering) aren't impacted by the cache differences between the 5xx and 6xx series. The two processors perform nearly identically in the tests that we ran in these areas. Games have generally seen a boost from the added cache (we've seen this since the first Extreme Edition), so the 670 has a slight edge over the 570 in that category. Under office and workstation applications, the impact varies from case to case.

The Pentium 4 570 comes in at around $645. In quantities of 1000, the 670 is $850, and the only one listed on pricewatch right now is over $1000. If high single threaded performance is required and the choice comes down to the 570 or 670, we'll have to recommend the cheapest one. Right now, that's the 570.

We do have trouble recommending either of these processors for their price, especially when less expensive options don't degrade performance.

We didn't talk much about the Pentium D 820 today, as Anand covered its performance characteristics in his earlier article on the subject. For those interested in the performance of that part, please check it out. As far as recommendations go, the Pentium D 820 is a compelling solution for those who don't need huge single threaded performance. The choice between great single threaded performance and solid multithreaded performance with Intel's dual core processors will really come down to the usage scenarios that fit each individual.

All in all, we can't say that the Pentium 4 670 adds anything to Intel's line up. As higher performance dual core processors start to come along, we will certainly be more interested in them.