When Intel surprise-launched the P4 3.2EE fourteen months ago, it was a strategic move that served the company well. Even though the Athlon 64 FX-51 was still a strong competitor, the large L3 cache of the P4 3.2 EE gave that CPU a tremendous boost in many of the areas where the FX-51 utterly dominated the P4 3.2 (gaming was the principle culprit here). Even if the FX-51 was still a stronger option, Intel now had their own enthusiast product line, with its own sky-high price, boosted performance, and bragging-rights capability.