Intel Beating AMD in the Race to 65nm Process - The 65nm Benchmarks and Overclocks
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Some early copies of Intel’s 65nm Cedar Mill and Presler found their way onto a handful of technology reviews. They experimented with a few ins and outs of the chips. Though not a finished product, these early prototypes can give us some idea of what to expect from Intel’s upcoming breed of chips.
Of course, we want to see how the chips perform out of the box. After having a bit of trouble from being overly ambitious with earlier transitions, Intel is taking it slow. Don’t expect to buy an early Cedar Mill clocked over 4 Ghz yet. Intel will likely only offer 2.8 Ghz to 3.8 Ghz processors as these chips are introduced. The lower heat and power consumption promised from the smaller design would promise that the chips could clock higher, so maybe we will see the improvement in overclocks.
Reviews have already covered game benchmarks, and the results show very conservative improvements. In games like Wolfenstein, Doom 3, and UT4K, the new 3.4 Ghz Cedar Mill inched ahead of a 3.4 Ghz Prescott. The margin of difference was less than 2 frames per second in each game. We’re not seeing performance improvements that are worth pulling out your wallet yet.
For video encoding, audio encoding, desktop applications, and even the artificial benchmarks, the processors were practically indistinguishable. The 90nm and 65nm chips were so close in all benches that they either tied or made so little difference that it’s not worth mentioning. These early Cedar Mills don’t seem to make much difference at all yet.
Naturally, we’ve saved the best for last. Overclocks are actually looking good. One reviewer, Anand Lal Shimpi, took a 3.6 Ghz Cedar Mill and managed to overclock it to 4.25 Ghz without changing the voltage. He was able to get it to post up to 4.73 Ghz, beating Prescotts that only made it to 4.2 Ghz. It looks like Intel has successfully improved their chips to clock higher, which is good news after the Prescotts frustrated some overclockers. This will probably also give Intel the room to ramp up their stock speeds later.
So, stock benchmarks and clock speeds are nothing remarkable. The early chips only offer much promise to overclockers. The 65nm process gives Intel some more room to grow, but they seem to be taking it slowly. This sort of conservative improvement probably doesn’t make AMD restless yet. Of course, “lower power consumption” is likely to be the line that Intel takes to the bank. Power and heat were weaknesses of the earlier Pentium 4s, and the 65nm process could put Intel back in the game with AMD.
Next: Power Consumption, Intel Faces-off with AMD >>
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