An in-depth look at Dothan: Intel’s Pentium M

“ If you?re an Intel enthusiast, the last eleven and a half months haven?t been especially bright, especially when compared to the heady days of 2002 and 2003, when Northwood hadn?t met a clockspeed it didn?t like, and Canterwood could do no wrong. The retail market?s pre-launch anticipation of what was widely seen as Pentium 4?s pre-emptive strike against the Athlon 64 was badly deflated by the higher temperatures, decreased efficiency, and mediocre scaling Prescott actually delivered.

The launch of Alderwood and Grantsdale in June hasn?t done much to change the situation. While these chipsets are fine, stable products in and of themselves, they?re Prescott-only unless you?re one of the rare individuals who can afford an Extreme Edition. For users replacing older systems the chipsets themselves could be attractive options, but they don?t offer much in the way of compelling features to the enthusiast market, and they?re saddled with Prescott?s thermal baggage.”