IDF is Intel’s main forum for new releases and updates on the older products and as such is key to understanding the company’s direction. Here's what impressed us.

The battle between portable devices is heating up.

Intel has delivered a sneak preview of the innovations and products expected at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco next week..

AMD’s next generation of CPUs brings 45nm technology and higher clock speeds - but is that enough to compete with Intel’s latest and greatest?

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.

This first of a new generation is only a little faster than the old, but its potential is clearly huge

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).

Intel’s new range of desktop processors has been a long time coming, but at last it’s arrived - and it leaves all others in the dust

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).

Incredibly fast and silent, too, but solid-state is still far too expensive for the mainstream.

A diverse family including some stellar CPUs and numerous also-rans.

A diverse family including some stellar CPUs and numerous also-rans

An HDMI-equipped board ideal for small media-centre systems

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