If the benefits of SSE support are clearly seen on the synthetic benchmark side of the coin, the question then becomes one of how this will effect gaming performance in raw frames per second terms.

"20 - 25% higher, maximum" is the generic response we were told by four prominent game developers, each being careful to reiterate "If everything is 100% perfect and seamless"….

The thought of taking a game engine which currently runs at 40 frames per second and then adding another 8 to 10 frames per second on top of that through SSE instruction support is enticing if not impressive.

But is it enough? Remember dear reader, this is the Pentium(r) III CPU line we're talking about. The highest speed mainstream CPU option available from the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer.

Is this the best Intel(r) could do?

What happened to the .18 micron, 133MHz Front Side Bus, 64Kb L1 Cache-equipped Pentium(r) III CPU we heard so much about last year?

"Coppermine" as it's code-named by Intel(r), will truly be a step forward in CPU processing power that no one will easily match, yet alone surpass. Offering the impressive specs mentioned above, along with a 600MHz core speed, Coppermine is the "next great thing" from Intel(r).

As if that wasn't enough, Sharky Extreme has learned that Coppermine's specification sheet now includes the addition of 256Kb of full speed L2 cache to the chip's core. Combine that with the increased amount of 64Kb of L1 cache, and you're talking about a 15 to 20% performance improvement versus a current Pentium(r) 3 running at the same frequency level. The off-die half-speed L2 cache that currently resides on the P2 and P3's PCB wafers will disappear when the integration of the full speed 256Kb is begun with Coppermine's introduction.

Unfortunately Coppermine is a little ways off yet. Sources indicate that the P3-600/133 chip will debut no earlier than mid to late July at best. The sources also indicated that the July date could easily slip to August if Q&A problems arise anywhere along the way.

That's tough to swallow when you consider that when combined with the clock speed increase to 600MHz, the P3-600/133 will be approximately 25 - 30%% faster than a current P3-500/100.

Games that utilize SSE will be in short supply until at least mid-year, with wide-spread retail support expected to occur no earlier than Q4/99. The P3-600/133 Coppermine CPU will long be on the market by that time, and will one "hella-fast" CPU (in the word's of South Park's Eric Cartman).

Can you see already where we're heading with this review and our final decision regarding the P3-450?