Features	Katmai	Coppermine
Front Side Bus (FSB)	100MHz	100/133MHz
L1 Cache Size	64K	64K
L2 Cache Size	512K	256K
L2 Cache Speed	Half CPU Speed	Full CPU Speed
Multimedia	MMX/SSE	MMX/SSE
Interface	Slot 1	Slot 1/Socket 370
Micron	0.25	0.18
Maximum Speed	600MHz	800+MHz

Here's the quick rundown of the components used in testing:

Motherboard	PREMIO CS3 (6183E)
Chipset	Intel 810E
BIOS	AMI BIOS version 1.3 - 10/22/1999
Processors	Intel Pentium III Katmai and Coppermine
Memory	Kingston 64MB PC133 SDRAM DIMM
Hard Drive	Western Digital 27GB 7,200RPM ATA66 (WD273BA)
DVD-ROM	Mitsumi 48X ATAPI
Video Card	Onboard Intel Direct AGP (4MB buffer)
Operating Systems	Microsoft Windows 98SE and NT 4.0 Workstation SP5

The table below is the list of Pentium III (both Katmai and Coppermine core) processors tested. Processors with 512K L2 cache is based on the Katmai core, while those with 256K is based on the Coppermine core. The 600B processor is unique because it's based on the Katmai core, and yet its FSB is 133MHz.

The "B" designation after the processor speed means 133MHz FSB, and the "E" designation means the core is based on the enhanced Coppermine core. The "EB" designation means the CPU is based on the Coppermine core and its FSB is 133MHz. If there's no lettering after the CPU speed, then you can assume the processor is based on the Katmai core running at 100MHz FSB.

Processor	L2 Cache	Front Side Bus (FSB)
450	512K	100MHz
500	512K	100MHz
550	512K	100MHz
600	512K	100MHz
600B	512K	133MHz
500E	256K	100MHz
550E	256K	100MHz
600E	256K	100MHz
650E	256K	100MHz
700E	256K	100MHz
750E	256K	100MHz
800E	256K	100MHz
533E	256K	133MHz
600EB	256K	133MHz
667E	256K	133MHz
733E	256K	133MHz

To make it even more confusing (if that's possible), from Intel's standpoint, any processor with speed 600MHz or higher, they will drop the "E" and "B" designation. Why? Because all Pentium III CPU 600MHz or higher will have the Coppermine core by default. For example, 650, 700, 750, and 800MHz all uses the Coppermine core. And by looking at the last digit of the CPU speed, you can determine if the FSB is 133MHz or 100MHz. If the digit is "0" then the FSB is 100MHz, otherwise assume the FSB to be 133MHz. For example, 650, 700, 750, and 800MHz all ends with the digit "0"; therefore, the FSB is 100MHz. While the 667 and 733MHz last digit is not "0"; therefore, the FSB is 133MHz. Keep that in mind when you're looking at the test data.

Ziff-Davis Winstone 99 measures overall system performance by running through a series of commonly used business and engineering applications. Higher number means better performance. Winbench 99 measures the performance of a specific part of the system; such as CPU performance. For both test suites, higher numbers mean better performance.

The chart above measures the system overall performance under Windows 98SE. The Katmai processors have the dark blue bars. The Katmai 133MHz FSB processor is designated by the dark green bar. The light green bars are for the Coppermine 100MHz FSB processors. And the orange bars are the Coppermine 133MHz FSB processors. The performance numbers are what we would expect. The higher speed Coppermine processors with the 133MHz FSB outperform the Katmai as we scale up in CPU speed. processors.

The graph above shows the relative system performance under Windows NT 4.0. At first glance, it looks like there's an error for those numbers. It's showing the lower clock speed Coppermine is actually outperforming the higher clock speed Coppermine! For example, look at the pairs 533E/550E, 600EB/650E, 667E/700E, and 733E/750E. In all cases, the slower CPU outperforms the faster CPU by a very small margin. Why? This is due to the FSB of the slower CPU, which is 133MHz as compared to 100MHz of the faster CPU. So under Windows NT, having a faster FSB does make a difference. But of course, the 800E processor outperforms the fastest 733E. In this case, the large difference in CPU speed is more than enough to make up for the FSB speed.

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