Since the entire rationale for CPU overclocking is to achieve enhanced performance at a lower price, it's important to know exactly where each of the processors sit in terms of relative performance. We've taken the Celeron 566, 600 and 700 (at both standard and overclocked speeds) and benchmarked them using a wide array of tests, and then compared them to a Pentium III Coppermine running at speeds of 500 to 700 MHz. These benchmarks will help determine whether the raw power of an overclocked Celeron with 128K of L2 cache can match the lower-speed Pentium III equipped with a full 256K of L2 cache.

Benchmark Platform:

• Windows 98
• Celeron 566, Celeron 600, Celeron 700 (standard and overclocked) and the Pentium III 500E-700E
• MPU 3.7 Thermal Compound
• Retail Celeron and Global Win heatsink/fans
• 3DCool.com 60x60 High-Speed, Cooling Fan
• MSI BXMaster motherboard
• ELSA Erazor X2 GeForce DDR
• 128 MB 7.5 ns PC133 SDRAM
• Seagate Barracuda ATA 28GB 7200 RPM, ATA-66 HD

All benchmarks were conducted on a fresh Windows 98 install, using a newly formatted hard disk. The test PCs were rebooted between tests, and benchmarks were performed at least 3 times, or until an easily reproducible score was achieved.