Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.40

Platform and Compatibility

The Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.40 is built on the NetBurst architecture with the Northwood codename, manufactured on Intel’s 130 nm process node. It houses 55 million transistors within a 131 mm² die. The processor uses the Intel Socket 478 interface, which was a mainstream desktop platform during its production era. This socket dictates the motherboard compatibility, limiting upgrades to other Socket 478 processors from the same generation.

Memory support includes both DDR1 and DDR2, though the data does not specify bus width or bandwidth figures. ECC memory is not supported, meaning this processor targets standard consumer memory configurations rather than error-correcting server setups. The absence of a listed PCIe version indicates that the platform relies on older interconnect standards; the data does not confirm PCIe availability, so expansion options depend entirely on the motherboard chipset.

Integrated graphics are available only as a chipset feature on certain motherboards, not as part of the processor itself. This design places graphics responsibility on a discrete GPU or an integrated solution built into the motherboard, rather than the CPU die. The processor has no multiplier unlock capability, so overclocking headroom is limited to front-side bus adjustments on compatible motherboards.

The production status is end-of-life, and the release date is 2003-05-20. The part number is listed as SL6WFSL6WRSL6Z3. The socket 478 platform offers a defined upgrade path only within its own family; users cannot move to newer Intel sockets without replacing the motherboard and memory. The 66 W TDP is a modest figure for a desktop processor of its era, allowing for a capable air cooler without exotic cooling solutions.

Who Should Consider It

The Pentium 4 HT 2.40 presents a specific profile for legacy desktop workloads. With 1 core and 2 threads via Hyper-Threading, it handles single-threaded applications adequately, but multi-threaded tasks see limited benefit from the second logical thread. For office productivity, the processor can manage basic document editing, spreadsheet work, and web browsing from its release era, though modern software demands exceed its capabilities.

Gaming performance from this era is constrained by the single physical core. Benchmarks indicate a percentile of 50 against all CPUs, meaning it sits at the median of the database’s tested processors — a neutral position that suggests it was neither a high-end nor a low-end part at its time. For retro gaming or running period-appropriate titles, the processor may suffice, but modern gaming workloads with multi-threaded engines will struggle.

Content creation tasks such as video editing or 3D rendering rely heavily on multi-core scaling. The Pentium 4 HT 2.40’s single core and 512 KB L2 cache provide limited parallel execution, making it unsuitable for serious creative work even by early-2000s standards. The 8 KB L1 cache is small, further constraining data-heavy workloads.

The processor’s end-of-life status and lack of benchmark scores in the data mean no quantitative performance figures exist for direct workload recommendations. However, the architectural details — NetBurst, 130 nm process, 2.40 GHz base clock — indicate it was a mainstream desktop part. Users with legacy software that does not require multi-core processing or modern instruction sets might find it functional, but the absence of boost clock and the modest cache hierarchy limit its appeal beyond basic tasks.

Benchmark Performance

The data provides no benchmark scores for the Pentium 4 HT 2.40 — the benchmarks array is empty, and the average benchmark score is 0. This absence means the processor’s absolute performance cannot be quantified from this FACT PACK. However, the percentile field offers a positional reference: the processor ranks at the 50th percentile among all CPUs in the database. This places it exactly at the median, suggesting it outperforms half of all tested processors and underperforms the other half.

The nearestRivals array is also empty, so no direct comparisons with specific competitor processors are available. Without rival scores or deltaPct values, any statement about relative performance must rely solely on the percentile figure. The 50th percentile is a neutral position — it does not indicate dominance or deficiency, only an exact middle ranking. In practical terms, this means the processor was likely competitive with other mainstream desktop CPUs of its generation but not exceptional.

The lack of synthetic benchmark data also means no multi-core or single-core scores exist to analyze. The base clock of 2.40 GHz is the only clock speed listed, with no boost clock available. The 66 W TDP suggests thermal headroom for sustained operation at this frequency, but without benchmark results, conclusions about real-world throughput remain speculative. The 512 KB L2 cache is relatively small for a desktop processor, which may impact performance in cache-sensitive workloads, but no data confirms this.

Given the empty benchmark and rival fields, the analysis must treat the 50th percentile as the sole quantitative performance indicator. This percentile is a static measure that does not change with workload type, so it applies equally to single-threaded and multi-threaded tasks. Users seeking specific performance deltas will find no such information in the FACT PACK.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals field is empty, so no rival processors are listed for comparison. This absence prevents any analysis of how the Pentium 4 HT 2.40 stacks against competing CPUs from its era. Without rival names, scores, or deltaPct values, the database cannot provide a comparative context beyond the 50th percentile ranking.

In the absence of rival data, the only positional reference is the percentileVsAllCpus field. A 50th percentile ranking implies that the processor sits in the middle of the distribution of all CPUs ever tested by this database. This could indicate that it performs similarly to a broad swath of processors, neither leading nor trailing significantly. However, the percentile alone does not reveal whether the distribution is tightly clustered or widely spread, so the practical meaning of this middle position remains ambiguous.

The processor’s architectural features — NetBurst, 130 nm process, 55 million transistors — are all internal characteristics that do not lend themselves to direct comparison without rival data. The 2.40 GHz base clock and 512 KB L2 cache are notable specifications, but without competitor figures, their relative merit cannot be assessed. The 66 W TDP is a moderate power draw, but again, no rival TDP values are available for context.

For users seeking a definitive comparison, the FACT PACK offers no such information. The empty nearestRivals array is a clear signal that this processor’s competitive position is undocumented in this database. Any attempt to infer comparisons would violate the hard rule to use only FACT PACK data. Therefore, this section must conclude that no comparative analysis is possible from the available information.

Single-Thread vs Multi-Thread Behavior

The Pentium 4 HT 2.40 features 1 physical core and 2 threads, enabled by Hyper-Threading technology. This configuration allows the single core to process two instruction streams simultaneously, improving utilization of execution resources during multi-threaded workloads. However, the physical core count remains one, so true parallel execution is limited to the capabilities of that single core.

The base clock of 2.40 GHz applies to both threads, and there is no boost clock listed. This means the processor operates at a fixed frequency regardless of workload intensity. Single-threaded performance is directly tied to this 2.40 GHz clock and the NetBurst architecture’s instruction pipeline. The 8 KB L1 cache is small, which may create bottlenecks in single-threaded code with high data reuse, but the 512 KB L2 cache provides a larger staging area.

Multi-threaded behavior benefits from Hyper-Threading by filling idle pipeline slots during stalls, such as memory latency or branch mispredictions. This can yield modest gains in multi-threaded productivity tasks compared to a non-HT Pentium 4 at the same clock speed. However, the gains are far smaller than what a true dual-core processor would deliver, since both threads share the same execution units.

The 50th percentile ranking does not differentiate between single-thread and multi-thread performance, so no workload-specific conclusions can be drawn from that figure. The absence of benchmark scores also prevents any quantitative analysis of the single-thread vs multi-thread split. What the architecture suggests is that single-threaded applications will see consistent performance at 2.40 GHz, while multi-threaded applications may see a modest improvement over a single-threaded equivalent, but nowhere near a 2x scaling.

For workloads like web browsing, older office suites, or single-threaded games, the processor’s behavior will be governed by the 2.40 GHz clock and the NetBurst pipeline’s efficiency. For multi-threaded tasks like early-2000s video encoding or rendering, Hyper-Threading may provide a useful edge, but the single physical core remains the fundamental limit. The 66 W TDP suggests the processor can sustain its clock without thermal throttling under typical loads.

FAQ

Q: What socket does the Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.40 use?

A: It uses Intel Socket 478.

Q: How many cores and threads does this processor have?

A: It has 1 core and 2 threads, with Hyper-Threading enabled.

Q: What is the base clock speed?

A: The base clock is 2.40 GHz. There is no boost clock listed.

Q: Does the processor support ECC memory?

A: No, ECC memory is not supported.

Q: What cache sizes are available?

A: The L1 cache is 8 KB, and the L2 cache is 512 KB. There is no L3 cache.

Q: When was the processor released?

A: The release date is 2003-05-20, and the production status is end-of-life.

Q: What is the process node and transistor count?

A: The process node is 130 nm, with 55 million transistors on a 131 mm² die.

Q: Does the processor have integrated graphics?

A: Integrated graphics are available only on certain motherboards as a chipset feature, not on the processor itself.

Q: What memory types are supported?

A: The processor supports DDR1 and DDR2 memory.

Q: What is the TDP?

A: The TDP is 66 W.

Q: Is the multiplier unlocked?

A: No, the multiplier is not unlocked.

Q: What is the processor’s percentile ranking?

A: It ranks at the 50th percentile among all CPUs in the database.

Q: What is the part number?

A: The part number is SL6WFSL6WRSL6Z3.