When Intel(r) decided to apply 128kb of level two cache to the core of their popular Celeron(tm) product line, the PC performance/value landscape was changed immediately.

No longer was the Celeron(tm) a laughing stock as the 128kb equipped 300A CPU astounded most in the industry by cruising through mainstream benchmarks within a single percentage point of the much more expensive Pentium(r) 2 300 CPU.

The Celeron(tm) 433 is no different from its predecessors, save for the increase in clock speed and its availability in both Intel(r)'s PPGA and Slot-1 formats. Otherwise the same rules apply to the Celeron(tm) 433 as they have to the Celeron(tm) 300A, 333, 366, and 400 CPUs that came before:

66MHz Front Side Bus Operation
128 L2 Cache, full speed
.25 micron die size

Some online publications erroneously reported last month that the Celeron(tm) 433 would be manufactured at a .18micron die size, this turned out to be both optimistic and incorrect. Intel(r)'s contacts have informed Sharky Extreme that they never intended for the Celeron(tm) 433, or the upcoming Celeron(tm) 466 (May 1st), to be manufactured using Intel(r)'s new .18 micron process.

The first CPU we'll see at .18 from Intel(r) is still slated to be the 600/133MHz Pentium(r) 3 with 256Kb of on-die L2 cache, otherwise known as "Coppermine". Until then .25 micron is the rule, and that applies to the 550/100MHz Pentium(r) 3 CPU (May 1st).