Intel announced the Celeron 333 at the same time as the 300A, but it was not the overclocking demon many expected. Some enterprising individuals were able to achieve 500 MHz (5x100 MHz), but they were few and far between. After that came the Celeron 366, and with that CPU, Intel also introduced a new packaging method into the mix. Initially, all the Celerons were made using the SEPP (Single Edge Processor Package) format utilizing the Slot 1 interface. This newest wrinkle was the PPGA (Plastic Pin Grid Array) and its S370 design actually hearkened back to the days of the Pentium and Pentium Pro. This new design helped Intel keep costs low by totally eliminating the need for the processor's PCB board.
The Celeron's move to the PPGA package also caused another stir in the overclocking community. While the C300A was the SEPP champ, the C366 PPGA variant was found to be an incredibly easy 550 (5.5x100 MHz) overclock. Intel also started transitioning the Celeron line to the PPGA format and phasing out the SEPP package. The fastest SEPP Celeron ran at 433 MHz, while the PPGA version progressed all the way up to the current 533 MHz speed.
While being something of a poor cousin to the Intel Pentium II and Pentium III Katmai, the Intel Celeron actually had quite a few advantages over its higher priced brethren. The primary advantage is in the area of L2 cache and while the Pentium II and Pentium III Katmai contain a healthy 512K of L2 cache, it only runs at 1/2 the CPU core speed and resides off chip on the processor's PCB board. In addition to the lower cache speed, its physical location also incurred a high latency and forced many overclockers to consider the chip's cache ratings and possibly explore secondary cooling solutions. Intel's recent move to the Coppermine core and its 256K of on-die, full-speed L2 cache marked a drastic improvement in both the Pentium III cache design and overall performance.
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