Celeron

The Celeron brand is a range of x86 CPUs from Intel targeted at budget personal computers, with the motto, “delivering great quality at an exceptional value”.

Celeron processors can run all IA-32 computer programs, but their performance is somewhat lower when compared to similar, but higher priced, Intel CPU brands. For example, the Celeron brand will often have less cache memory, or have advanced features purposely disabled. These missing features have had a variable impact on performance. In some cases, the effect was significant and in other cases the differences were relatively minor. Many of the Celeron designs have achieved a very high “bang for the buck”, while at other times, the performance difference has been noticeable.[1] This has been the primary justification for the higher cost of other Intel CPU brands versus the Celeron range.

Introduced in April 1998,[2] the first Celeron branded CPU was based on the Pentium II branded core. Subsequent Celeron branded CPUs were based on the Pentium III, Pentium 4, Pentium M, and Core 2 Duo branded processors. The latest Celeron design (as of January 2008) is based on the Core 2 Duo (Allendale). This design features independent processing cores (CPUs), but with only 25% as much cache memory as the comparable Core 2 Duo offering.

Background

As a product concept, the Celeron was introduced in response to Intel’s loss of the low-end market, in particular to the Cyrix 6×86, the AMD K6, and the IDT Winchip. Intel’s existing low-end product, the Pentium MMX, was no longer performance competitive at 233 MHz.[3] Although a faster Pentium MMX would have been a lower-risk strategy, the industry standard Socket 7 platform hosted a market of competitor CPUs which could be drop-in replacements for the Pentium MMX. Instead, Intel pursued a budget part that was pin-compatible with their high-end Pentium II product, using the Pentium II’s (Slot 1) interface. The Celeron was used in many low end machines and, in some ways, became the standard for non gaming computers.

Celeron (P6)
-Covington
-Mendocino
-Coppermine-128
-Tualatin-256

Celeron (NetBurst)
-Willamette-128
-Northwood-128

Celeron D
-Prescott-256
-Cedar Mill-512

Celeron (Core)
-Conroe-L

Celeron Dual-Core (Core)
-Allendale

Mobile Celeron and Celeron M (P6)
-Mendocino Mobile
-Tualatin-256
-Northwood-256
-Banias-512
-Shelton
-Dothan-1024
-Yonah-1024

Mobile Celeron and Celeron M (Core)
-Merom
-Merom-2M
-Merom-2M (dual-core)
-Penryn-3M
-Penryn-3M (dual-core)

Discontinuation

With the launch of 32 nm processors within the upcoming months, Intel will discontinue some Atom, Celeron, Pentium, Core 2, and even Core i7 models. The Celeron E1400 is scheduled to be discontinued in Q3, 2009 and the E1500 and E1600 are scheduled to be phased out in Q4, 2009. These processors will be replaced by the Celeron E3000 series.[32] When 32 nm processors become more common, Intel’s existing lines will be eventaully phased out except for the Core i7.