Intel Pentium III 1GHz

Conclusion

For content creation applications and games (in most cases), the 1GHz Pentium III is faster than the 1GHz Athlon. Whether this is because specific SSE optimizations or because of the full speed on-die L2 cache of the Pentium III depends on the particular game and/or application, but for the most part the Pentium III will come out on top.

Things change once you enter the professional graphics arena, where the Athlon completely dominates provided that it is paired up with a KX133 motherboard.

For most users, neither of these CPUs is worth the time of day simply because of their cost, whereas overclocking a slower chip to speeds close to 1GHz would make much more sense. For the Pentium III, reaching 1GHz via normal overclocking methods may be a bit difficult, but it has definitely been done before with the Athlon.

In terms of motherboard platforms, the VIA Apollo Pro 133A is now, hands down, the best platform for the Pentium III. While the BX is still the most intelligent for those users that have motherboards that support the new CPUs and don't mind the fact that they run at a 100MHz FSB, for new system builders, the 133A makes the most sense, especially since there are motherboards out there based on the 133A that are pretty solid.

For most of you all that will be building systems rather than buying them, the fact that the 1GHz Pentium IIIs won't be available until Q3 is a big downside, potentially a reason to go with the Athlon if you feel that you must have that sort of power soon.

For more information on the Pentium II 1GHz read Sharky Extreme's Review