Photographs of Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor’s box emerged on an Asian web-site called Say25.com. Consequently, Intel’s latest addition to the desktop family of central processing units has shown up in the USA.

The packaging of Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor at 3.20GHz is a bit different compared to the typical packaging of Intel Pentium 4 microprocessor. The box for the extreme processor is black and blue, there is no Intel’s conventional white color on it. Therefore, customers will be able to distinguish the black-blue box of Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition with orange-white packaging for typical Intel Pentium 4 chips. You can see more pictures of the box over here.

Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor functions at 3.20GHz and packs not only 512KB of L2 cache, like every 0.13 micron Pentium 4, but also adds 2MB of L3 cache for extreme performance desired by gamers and advanced PC users. The chip is fully compatible with existing Socket 478 infrastructure based on i865PE/i865G and i875P core-logic and supporting the 800MHz Quad Pumped Bus.

Earlier this month some Japanese stores started to take pre-orders on the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor from the first batch, asking $1033 per chip. A bit later Xbitlabs.Dealtime.com indicated a US-based online store also ready to pre-order the microprocessor for $1063. Pricing of AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 processor – the main competitor for the Extreme Edition Pentium 4 – starts at $754.

In the first quarter of 2004 Intel is expected to add yet another Extreme Edition processor into its lineup. The chip will still be made using 0.13 micron technology, but will run at a bit higher speed of 3.40GHz.