Published on May 27, 2006

Desktop Chips

Intel Core Duo - Now it gets a little tricky. The Core Duo was originally a laptop CPU, but it runs cool and quiet and so some vendors are using it on desktop PCs. See more on Core Duo in the laptop section below.
Pentium 4 - Comes in a vareity of formats, from standard to "HT" to "Extreme Edition," each of which is more powerful than the previous one. The Pentium 4 is fundamentally the same as when it was originally released in late 2000, only smaller, faster, and hotter. Some high-end machines still feature P4s, and the CPU of choice (in the Intel universe) for gamers is still the P4 Extreme Edition. Very expensive.

A Look at Intel processors

Pentium D - Intel's desktop dual-core processor, which means it has two CPUs on one circuit board. I recommend dual core for any user today, even if it means sacrificing clock speed, which no longer generates great increases in actual performance.
Celeron and Celeron D - Celeron is Intel's budget CPU, good only for basic computing tasks. Most vendors have moved to the Celeron D, which is not, despite the confusing name, a dual core version of the Celeron, but rather an upgraded version. Celeron (without the D) is not readily available any more and you shouldn't buy a computer with a non-D Celeron today.
Xeon - Primarily a server and workstation chip. For 99.9 percent of you, you needn't worry about anything that says Xeon on it.

Bottom line: Go for the Pentium D, which will run cooler and still provide plenty of performance, even against a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition. Budget buyers will find lower-speed Pentium 4s or Celeron Ds to be an acceptable alternative.

Laptop Chips

Intel Core Duo - Currently the top of the line for Intel notebook CPUs, a dual core, power-saving CPU that provides excellent performance. The Core Duo 2 arrives this summer, and provides increased performance. A Core Duo 2 Extreme version is also on the way, though how extreme it might actually be is a mystery for now.
Intel Core Solo - Essentially a broken Core Duo: A Duo in which one of the cores didn't work, so they cut the price and sell it as a "Core Solo." Not worth your while.
Pentium M - This has been Intel's notebook workhorse for several years, a fast, single-core CPU that works quite well. It's still on the market, but is being rapidly displaced by Core Duo.
Mobile Pentium 4 - A shrunken version of the Pentium 4, originally designed for top performance at the expense of size and weight. It's not widely seen any more, except in some behemoth (10 pounds and up) laptops. Core Duo is probably a better investment.
Celeron M - The mobile Celeron. Pentium M has gotten cheap enough that most vendors simply put low-speed Pentium Ms in their laptops instead of Celeron Ms. If faced with a choice, you'll be much happier with a slower Pentium M than a faster Celeron M, and the price will be about the same.

Bottom line: Core Duo is unquestionably the way to go. Consider Pentium M if on a tight budget