Intel Celeron E1200 Review - Budget Computing at its Finest?
Submitted By steven on Aug 4 2008 at 10:09 AM
Introduction
Intel launched its first consumer-level dual core processors in April of 2005. Although these first consumer processors lacked the efficiency and performance offered by the competition, Intel can still be seen as the father of the “every-day” dual core processor. With the release of the Pentium D 805, Intel became the first company to offer a sub-$200 product. This affordable chip pushed the evolution of the dual core processor faster than anyone could have anticipated. Today, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single core processor in any off the shelf system. Intel, again, revolutionized the multi-core processor industry with the introduction of it's “Core 2” series. In traditional style, Intel has taken the best of what this series offers and cut it down to a more affordable level -- sporting the classic “Celeron” moniker.
Released in early 2008, the Celeron E1200 made its debut to reluctant, but open arms. Historically, the Celeron brand of processors has rarely been of much interest to computer enthusiasts, but the prospect of a dirt cheap dual core peaked some interest. With this offering, Intel did what they always do with the release of a new Celeron; they reduced the clock speed, lowered the bus speed, and cut back on the L2 cache. The E1200, built off the same technology as its bigger brothers in the Core 2 series, weighs in at 1.6GHz with an 800MHz front side bus and 512k of shared L2 cache. With an introductory price of $53, half that of the entry level Core 2 Duo series, the E1200 has been poised to cause quite a stir in the budget computer market.
| Series | Core 2 Duo | Core 2 Duo | Core 2 Duo | Core 2 Duo | Pentium Dual Core | Celeron Dual Core |
| Models | E8000 | E7000 | E6000 | E4000 | E2000 | E1000 |
| Core Name | Wolfdale | Wolfdale | Conroe | Allendale | Allendale | Allendale |
| Manufacturing Process | 45nm | 45nm | 65nm | 65nm | 65nm | 65nm |
| Number of Cores | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Clock Speeds | 2.6-3.1GHz | 2.5GHz | 1.8-3.0GHz | 1.8-2.6GHz | 1.6-2.4GHz | 1.6-2.0GHz |
| Bus Speed | 1333 | 1066 | 1066 | 800 | 800 | 800 |
| L2 Cache | 6MB | 3MB | 2-4MB | 2MB | 1MB | 512K |
| TDP | 65w | 65w | 65w | 65w | 65w | 65w |
As the chart indicates, the E1200 shares many aspects with those chips in the Pentium E2000 and Core 2 Duo E4000 series -- as all three series are based on the 65nm Allendale processor. As show below, the most significant difference between these three series is the quantity of L2 cache; which range from 512k on the E1000 Celerons to 2MB on the E4000 series Core 2 Duos. Unlike Conroe and Wolfdale derivatives, the Allendale core does not feature Intel VT Virtualization technology. Intel 64, Execute Bit, and EIST technology remains. EIST, Intel's Enhanced Speed Step technology, is a new feature for Intel's Celeron series of processors. This technology allows the processor to reduce its clock speed and operating voltage in order to save system power and reduce heat and noise when the computer is operating at low load or idling over night. With the EIST technology enabled, the E1200 will run at about 1.162v and an operating speed of 1.2GHz. When the EIST is disabled, the E1200 will run at about 1.312v and an operating speed of 1.6GHz.
