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Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz Hyper-Threading CPU
By CPU-zilla
Category : CPU
Published by Jimmy Tang on Thursday, 14th November, 2002
Rating : 4.5 out of 5 stars  


The Specifications & Requirements

The new Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz with Hyper-Threading is based on Intel's 0.13 µm manufacturing technology. Similar to the Northwood core, it also comes packed with 512KB of Level 2 cache. In fact, the specifications are exactly the same except that it now comes with Hyper-Threading enabled and it also requires much more current to operate. See table below for the specifications.

Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz Technical Specifications Compared with Other CPUs
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Intel Pentium 4 2.80GHz Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz
Manufacturing Technology 0.13µm 0.13µm 0.13µm
Front Side Bus 333MHz 533MHz 533MHz
L2 Cache 256KB full-speed 512KB full-speed 512KB full-speed
Clock Multiplier 13.5x 21x 23x
Clock Frequency 2.241GHz 2.80GHz 3.06GHz
Core Voltage 1.65V 1.525V 1.550V
Current (Icc) N/A 55.9A 65.4A
Hyper-Threading No No Yes
Thermal Design Power N/A 68.4W 81.8W
Form Factor Socket-A Socket-478 Socket-478

In order to ensure flawless operation of the processor, there are a few things that one should note. Firstly, you'll need to ensure that the motherboard you're using has the ability to support the Hyper-Threading technology. Not all chipsets released by Intel or third-party vendors support Hyper-Threading. Here's a non-exhaustive list of chipsets (and future ones) that supports Hyper-Threading:-

  • Intel 850E
  • Intel 845E
  • Intel 845PE
  • Intel 845GE
  • Intel 845GV
  • SiS 655

    Secondly,you'll have to check with the motherboard manufacturers to ensure that the board meets the power requirements of the Pentium 4 3.06GHz processor. Certain boards are not designed for that and as a result, you'll experience stability issues with the 3.06GHz processor.

    Thirdly, if you already have a motherboard that meets the above mentioned requirements, you'll then need to contact your manufacturer to update the BIOS. This can easily be done by going to the BIOS update section of your motherboard manufacturer and download the appropriate update from their site. Once you've updated the motherboard's firmware, enter the BIOS setup section and look for the Hyper-Threading option and then enable it. Some BIOS will detect the CPU and automatically enable Hyper-Threading by default. As such, you'll not need to do anything once you've upgraded the firmware.

    Fourthly, ensure you use an appropriate heatsink. As you can see in the table above, the Thermal Design Power of the processor is 81.8W. That's higher than most desktop processors we know today. In order to keep the processor cooled adequately, use an approved heatsink and ensure that it's seated on the processor correctly. Fortunately for Intel CPUs, they are always bundled with a good cooler, thus, you need not worry about this. You should note this requirement if you intend to use your own cooler.

    The cooler that came with the new 3.06GHz processor is slightly different from what we used to get. The fan design is slightly different as it draws more air to cool the processor.


    There are now more fins on the heatsink. It still retained the similar 'sunflower' design with a copper block in the center.

    Lastly, you'll need an operating system that takes advantage of the Hyper-Threading technology. The latest Windows XP Home Edition is the least you should install. Also, ensure that it's upgraded with Service Pack 1. After installation, you can check the Task Manager and you'll see two CPU utilization charts. Hyper-Threading lets the operating system see two logical processors - thus, you're virtually getting two processors for the price of one. Now, wait a minute here, isn't the Home Edition supposed to be licensed for only one processor? Well, you're right about that, but what you didn't know is that it supports two logical processors (which is what Hyper-Threading offers) and one physical processor.
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