Intel's 865G chipset (codenamed Springdale), is almost identical to the 875 (Canterwood), and is designed to support the new Intel Pentium 4 processor with Hyper-Threading as well as the 800MHz frontside bus (FSB). It also includes 8x AGP, USB 2.0 and Serial ATA support.

One gigabyte of RAM is enough to get most applications running smoothly, but should you buy the cheapest or the fastest?

The latest iteration of the Pentium 4, code named Prescott, is an interesting development for a few reasons. First off, it represents Intel's entry to the world of 90nm (90 nanometre, or 0.09 micron) fabrication for processors. For the uninitiated, all this means is the size of individual components on the processor core have been shrunk to even smaller levels. It's a natural part of processor evolution to shrink the size of components, as it allows more transistors to be packed into a smaller space, reduces heat and resistance, and this all leads to faster CPUs.

The Intel 875P chipset (codenamed Canterwood) is very similar to the 865 in features. In fact, the 875P is essentially just the best silicon from the same line as the 865, which allows Intel to include its new Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT).

Chance or coincidence? AMD releases the Athlon 64, specifically targeted at the consumer performance market, and only days later Intel announces a secret processor aimed squarely at the same MHz-hungry community: the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (P4EE).

An expensive board, but a fascintating way of getting a powerful, quiet system, especially if you're prepared to tweak.

The 845PE was supposed to be Intel’s mainstream desktop DDR chipset, although the e7205 (the Granite Bay), and now the 865 and 875, have stolen much of its thunder with dual-channel DDR.

Recently Intel recognised it needed a stop-gap chipset with dual-DDR before the release of the Springdale and Canterwood (865 and 875 respectively).

This early Nforce 570 for Intel board lacks luxuries and speed compared to Intel chipsets, but boasts a good price.

A budget board that open the door to Crossfire graphics.

Your PC is only as good as your last upgrade, and this is truer than ever with current gaming and software applications milking machines for everything they're worth.

Intel has promised that Hyper-Threading (HT) will deliver increased efficiency and decrease the amount of time taken to accomplish multiple processes. But is it really all that it's cracked up to be?

Impressive technology, but increasing cores doesn’t necessarily increase performance.

While AMD has been waving hybrid 32/64-bit CPUs for some time now, speculation has risen over when Intel would unleash their product onto an already expecting market. Here it is, Intel's newest addition to their Extreme Edition clocking in at an impressive 3.73GHz and boasting a 2MB L3 cache.

The 915 is an good budget choice, but elsewhere this family is eclipsed by newer offerings.

If you’re locked into Intel, there’s value to be had. But AMD’s Sempron is the budget-buyer’s king.

One of the mid-priced Intel 845PE boards, the Soltek SL-85DR3 comes in just shy of $200.

SiS wasn't far behind Intel with its own dual-channel chipset – the 655. This goes one step further than the e7205 to offer PC2700 support for a bandwidth of 5.4GB/s, far in excess of the 533MHz FSB Pentium 4's capability, giving extra room for AGP and I/O.

MSI's new motherboard is based on the Intel 865, or Springdale chipset, heralding the arrival of a host of new technologies (such as support for dual-channel DDR-RAM, AGP 8x and SATA) in Pentium 4 boards. These technologies have been commonplace in Althon boards for more than six months, and it's been an agonizing wait for many Pentium 4 fans.

Intel has promised that Hyper-Threading (HT) will deliver increased efficiency and decrease the amount of time taken to accomplish multiple processes. But is it really all that it’s cracked up to be?