Just a few short weeks ago Sharky Extreme reviewed and overclocked Intel(r)'s Pentium(r) 3-450 CPU. We determined at that time that the new CPU while powerful, didn't justify its $500 purchase price versus a nearly identically performing $140 Celeron(tm) 400.

Today we're looking at the top-of-the-line Intel(r) Pentium(r) 3 500 CPU, the faster and more expensive sibling of the P3-450, and we'll be evaluating its effectiveness in the current market channel, as well as its desirability to end users.

With the upcoming Pentium(r) 3-550 and Celeron(tm) 466 due in early May, is there any room for the $700 P3-500 in buyer's systems? And with significantly more powerful CPU options like Intel(r)'s .18 micron "Coppermine" 600MHz P3 CPU, and AMD's K7 looking to release sometime in the summer, should anyone be buying any other CPU besides a Celeron(tm) to just get by in the mean time?

All is revealed within as we put the P3-500 to the test at both its stock speed, as well as at a variety of overclocked frequencies.