Hey Im trying to put together a cheap system - think i've settled for a celeron base, and i was wondering if a celeron is a pentium 4? For e.g. obviously im looking around for motherboards that support the celeron, and i find lots of boards that support the socket but in the information it only mentions supporting pentium 4's. So i was wondering, if the board supports the pin (i.e. 478, which is a celeron) does it matter which intel processor i use? Much thanks ;)

A Celeron is essentially a stripped-down version of a Pentium 4 CPU. Both have the same 478-pin grid array, which is why most P4 motherboards will accommodate both Pentium 4s and Celerons. Probably the biggest difference is the L2 cache ... most P4s have 512 kb while most Celerons have 128 kb (although the Celeron Ds have 256 kb). Unless you are on a really tight budget, if you are set on going with Intel, go for a P4.

A Celeron is not a P4...it uses the same socket & is based on the P4, but it runs at 400FSB & only has 128kb L2 cache. There are a few different versions of the P4...they run at either 400FSB, 533FSB, or 800FSB & have either 256kb, 512kb, 1mb, or 2mb L2 cache, depending on model. http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20020903/ If you wanna build a cheap system, build AMD Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @8x210mhz 512mb PC3200 Ti4200/8X 128mb WDC 60GB

Forgot about the Celeron D Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @8x210mhz 512mb PC3200 Ti4200/8X 128mb WDC 60GB

Celerons are to Pentiums what Durons are to Athlons. The most important similarities and differences between the Pentium 4 and the Celeron chips are: Core: The Celeron chip is based on a Pentium 4 core. Cache: Celeron chips have less cache memory than Pentium 4 chips do. A Celeron might have 128 kilobytes of L2 cache, while a Pentium 4 can have four times that. The amount of L2 cache memory can have a big impact on performance depending on the task. Clock Speed: Intel manufactures the Pentium 4 chips to run at a higher clock speed than Celeron chips. The fastest Pentium 4 might be 60 percent faster than the fastest Celeron. Bus Speed: There are differences in the maximum bus speeds that the processors allow. Pentium 4s tend to be about 30 percent faster than Celerons. When you sort all this out and compare the two chips side by side, it turns out that a Celeron and a Pentium 4 chip running at the same speed are different beasts. The smaller L2 cache size and slower bus speeds can mean serious performance differences depending on what you want to do with your computer. If you are on a budget and all you really do is check e-mail and browse the Web, the Celeron will be fine for you. If you need something much faster, then you need to go with the Pentium 4 due to its higher clock speeds and faster system bus. Celeron vs. Pentium 4

I was aware that a celeron's fsb only runs at 400 and that the cache isnt as high as a P4 but was simply wondering if, with regards to the mobo, it's only the socket that matters? The reason being is that i assumed i could go 'down' in fsb (such as a mobo that handles 800 fsb would be ok with 400 fsb but i just wouldnt be using it to its potential), but not 'up', such as a 400 mobo trying to run a cpu at 800 fsb. But as always, thanks! JAM - "if you want to build a cheap system, build AMD" A 2500 sempron (RET - whatever that means) is roughly the same price as a celeron 2.6 ghz. I thought the celeron would be better (?), plus the sempron's on the dying (<-i think i've gathered) socket A. Do you still stick with going for AMD in this scenario? You've confused and made me second guess myself now you see so would just like a final answer? I respect the knowledge of that lot'a ya you see :)

I am sorry, i forgot to put down the link to where i got that statement. I do not know exactly where, but it was under the intel site somewhere. Jam-you counterdicted yourself in your openeing statement, with the rest of your statement. Look, if your planning on using the internet and email and light stuff like thatm then i would build a cheap AMD machine. But if you are going to do mainly vid editing and maybe some light gaming, then u would prob go with the celeron. You can be amused by the simplest of things. The smartest people in the world, over-look the smallest objects. War does not determine who is right, only who is left.