Computer Shopper tests 13 of the first 233MHz and 266MHz Pentium II PCs.

by Megan Loncto

Posted May 7, 1997 as a preview of a feature to appear in the August 1997 issue of Computer Shopper

The much-anticipated Pentium II CPU is here. Like the Pentium Pro, the Pentium II is based on Intel's P6 architecture. In addition, it features support for all 57 MMX instructions, improved 16-bit performance, and new chip packaging that will let system and motherboard vendors move to future CPUs more rapidly than ever.

As part of a feature story that contributing editor Stephen W. Plain is writing for the August 1997 issue of Computer Shopper, we got our hands on a baker's dozen 233MHz and 266MHz Pentium II systems--and we're ready to share the straight-from-the-lab results with you. Check out our Java-based interactive viewers for a battery of benchmark scores and a configuration chart. For the complete roundup, including reviews, a more detailed feature chart, and even more test results, pick up the August 1997 issue or stop back at www.cshopper.com on July 15, 1997.

If 233MHz and 266MHz aren't fast enough for you, we put together a test system based on the ultrarare 300MHz Pentium II CPU that Intel released to the workstation market. Check out these results before you go.

A Range of Performance

To cut to the quick, the 266MHz machines are the highest-performing group of desktops with mainstream 32-bit applications we've seen to date. The systems' average scores on ZD's Business Winstone 97 and High-End Winstone 97 benchmarks were 63.3 and 23.1 respectively.

By contrast, the 233MHz Pentium II models averaged just 55.5 and 19.1 respectively on the Business and High-End Winstone tests, only 6 and 7 percent faster than the average of the 256K-cache-version 200MHz Pentium Pro systems we tested in the March 1997 issue. (See "NT 4.0 Powerstations.")

Considering the Pentium II's higher clock speed and 512K of Level 2 cache, you might expect higher performance from the 233MHz chip. Part of the discrepancy may be due to the use of Windows NT's NTFS file system--generally slower than FAT--by all three of the 233MHz systems we tested. Another contributing factor is likely Intel's economy-minded change from the Pentium Pro's high-speed L2 cache to a slower design based on off-the-shelf SRAM for the Pentium II.

Pentium II systems, which use a vertically mounted single-edge-contact cartridge that houses the CPU and L2 cache, run their L2 caches at half the clock speed of the CPU. By contrast, the Pentium Pro's L2 cache is built into the chip package and runs at full CPU speed.

Factor in that performance hit, and even the Pentium II's double-sized 32K Level 1 cache wasn't enough to boost the 233MHz systems' application performance significantly above Pentium Pro levels. On the positive side, the design lets Intel use cheaper SRAM and lets motherboard makers count on faster ramp-ups

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