Intel has recently unleashed the fastest processor in terms of frequency on the market. A couple of months after the Gigahertz barrier has been broken the Santa Clara based CPU Giant established a new record and doubled the speed with the release of the Pentium 4 2.0 GHz. This new processor is available in two different flavors: 423 and 478 pin packages. The most interesting model is obviously the 478 pin one. Still engraved in 0.18µ, and despite the fact it comes with more pins than previous Pentium 4 CPUs it is much, much smaller. Intel engineers have worked hard to miniaturize their most powerful processor so it can take less space on motherboards. The Pentium 4 family is the first of Intel CPUs to feature a newly designed architecture since the Pentium Pro was released in 1995. In the past weeks, Intel has demonstrated a strong wish to popularize its Pentium 4 platform: even if the Pentium 4 2.0GHz isn't a model of affordability for the masses, slower processors like the 1.8 or 1.9GHz have suffered severe price drops that are always welcome by customers.