socket 423 vs socket 478

[Amedeo602]

I'm not a big fan of intel, but i was poking around on the asus website and found this. it might be (read: probably is) old news, but i don't keep current on intel and thought i'd post this in case anyone was interested...

6. Question:
How well does the Intel S478 Pentium 4 processor perform relative to the S423 Pentium 4 processor?

Answer:
At the same speed, S478 Pentium 4 CPU performs exactly the same as S423 Pentium 4 CPU because they are of the same processor core, same semiconductor technology, and same features. But Northwood will be faster than S423 Pentium 4 CPU due to its advanced 0.13-micron technology & larger 512KB L2 cache size.
From an overclocking perspective, with shorter trace route and hence better signal quality between CPU & chipset in Socket 478 package, S478 Pentium 4 platform has greater overclocking potential.

[JaY_III]

THe socket 478 a is newer, better P4. Well once northwood come along.
You answered your own question here
"But Northwood will be faster than S423 Pentium 4 CPU due to its advanced 0.13-micron technology & larger 512KB L2 cache size. "

Think of it this way. Current P4 is Celeron less cache, new P4 is a real pentium with all the cache. And we all know cache is good :)

As for overclocking goes. the move to .13 alone will help overclocking. I think it has little to do with the package. As we have seen in the past time and time again, smaller dies size means more MHz.