Pentium 3 Processor - Prices, WHY ?

[MasJ]

Alright, I had this question about PIII processors, WHY are they so expensive ?? I know it's not because they're low in availability but I'm not able to find any architectural reasons for it either. Is it because they are more robust for server environments or something ? I'm asking because while scouring the prices of new processors, I found that the PIII 1Ghz (and even lower models) are more expensive that P4 2Ghz processors. Why the discrepancy ?? Weird..

[chaychigga]

Correct me if I'm wrong but usually the last speed grades of dying processor cores have the highest demand because upgraders trying to eke that last bit of potential out of their old Pentium III motherboards want the fastest processor they can get. It goes back to the 1.3Ghz Coppermine, the 600Mhz slot PIIIs, and the 450Mhz PIIs.

Also I think that the supply of the Tualatins are running out because Intel has stopped making Pentium IIIs altogether. So that could contribute to the premium price as well.

[grantu2]

I thought of upgradeing my parents computer by switching out the mb and putting a p3 1.4ghz chip but I found that the 815 mb's are like still in the 70 u.s. dollar range and the highend p3 chip is selling for 215 u.s. dollars. I was like @_$#(@_()*$ I would figure it would only cost about 100 u.s. dollars to upgrade the mb and cpu. But if the demand is still out their for p3's then thats the only reason why they would be priced so high. But omg 215 for a p3 chip YUUKKK, I could get highend amd mb, cpu, and ram with a nice vid-card or hd for that price, wth is intel thinking but again, they say when people buy a p4 they are really just buying a sooped up p3 j/k ...not...

I can see in my mind gan doing this at that last comment I made.

[MasJ]

Souped up p3 my @$$. P4 is a far superior processor but even then, why the demand and high price for P3's ? It's not because they're outsourced, they've been outsourced last year, so it wouldn't go on until this year, but I watch on eBay that people pay upto $300 for P3 chips, WHY WHY OH WHY ??!!

[gannondorf]

Why MasJ? i'll tell you why...in made a little reallife comparison in my company..P4 2,2 Ghz, 512MB DDR, Ati Radeon 8500 vs. Dual PIII-S 1,3GHz, 512MB SDRAM, Ati Radeon 8500. results? even that pIII was working on SDRAM, witch is techically exacly two times slower than DDR, the pIII system beaten it's ass for 30-40% in almost everything. pIII is still expensive because people who want dual systems for midrange workstations or low end servers buy it, because they dont have money for dual xeons (not to mention itaniums)...and dual systems are dual systems. pentium III-s has tualatin core with 512kb of clockrate cache, witch makes it a very fast cpu. main issue about all intel's processors is that they are technically two-three years ahead of every other piece of digital electronics, therefore software industy can't follow it how it's supposed...pIII shows it's true strenght today, three years after it's made, because only today's applications handle it's SSE instruction techniques on the right way. even slowest p4's (the old ones on s423), with old "willy" core, will show it's power and hasteness when software starts using SSE2 rapidly...btw pIII has three 64-bit instructions more than p4, so it's more suitable for small servers.

[Magus]

That is odd, I noticed the same thing yesterday MasJ. Perhaps at the same time you did. Gan has a good explanation. Also, Intel is releasing new P4 chips very rapidly so the older ones are dropping in price to remain in proportion. A 2.53ghz 133mhz FSB w/ 512k cache is as low as $150 already because the 2.8ghz P4 can't be more than $500. That is the cut off. Intel's newest chips always start around that range so previous chips must drop in price a great deal. So yes, PIII's are still in demand, but the price differential is also due to the lowering prices of older P4 chips.

[battousai]

Originally posted by gannondorf
Why MasJ? i'll tell you why...in made a little reallife comparison in my company..P4 2,2 Ghz, 512MB DDR, Ati Radeon 8500 vs. Dual PIII-S 1,3GHz, 512MB SDRAM, Ati Radeon 8500. results? even that pIII was working on SDRAM, witch is techically exacly two times slower than DDR, the pIII system beaten it's ass for 30-40% in almost everything. pIII is still expensive because people who want dual systems for midrange workstations or low end servers buy it, because they dont have money for dual xeons (not to mention itaniums)...and dual systems are dual systems. pentium III-s has tualatin core with 512kb of clockrate cache, witch makes it a very fast cpu. main issue about all intel's processors is that they are technically two-three years ahead of every other piece of digital electronics, therefore software industy can't follow it how it's supposed...pIII shows it's true strenght today, three years after it's made, because only today's applications handle it's SSE instruction techniques on the right way. even slowest p4's (the old ones on s423), with old "willy" core, will show it's power and hasteness when software starts using SSE2 rapidly...btw pIII has three 64-bit instructions more than p4, so it's more suitable for small servers.

sorry to sound stupid... i got most of it but could you please explain it in a simpler language?

[MasJ]

Yeah gan, you got a point there.
elhaym, you see, P3 had SSE instructions in the processor (think of it as something like MMX) which speeded up stuff, but programs at that time (when the P3 was out) never used SSE. But NOW they do, so they run faster on P3's. However, P4's have SSE2 (which VERY few programs use) so it's power goes unused... for the time being. But programs that DO use SSE2 can push the P4 really hard and it leaves an AMD CPU in the dust every time. (by over 50% performance increase!). But since P3 uses SSE and is a very robust cpu, plus, it's cache performs at full clock speed, the cpu is very valuable for server environments, and yeah, Dual P3 servers are indeed very good!

[battousai]

thank you... i get it now...

[gannondorf]

mate, they dont pay me here to speak in "simple-man's" language MasJ, dont tell me anything, i got pretty impressed myself, and done a little research at www.intel.com (btw they have shitloads of pdf's there, regarding technical specifications about cpu's...currently studying Itanium's arhitecture and instruction set ). fact is that dual pIII mainboards are running out of quantity, they only left here those intel SWGC (ServerWorks Grand Champion), witch are about $1,000. there are only few cheaper mainboards left on the market here. and does anybody know where could i purchase dual pIII mainboards with rdram? intel has chipset for it, but they werent in some vast usage...