Pentium4 vs. AthlonXP, Clock for Clock - Conclusions
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Pentium4 vs. AthlonXP, Clock for Clock Comparison
BENCHMARKS (continued):
3DMark2001SE (Build 330):
Again, more numbers that pretty much speak for themselves. With identical systems and identical CPU speeds and buses, the AMD is almost a full 10% faster in the "braggin' rights" benchmark of choice.
INTEL WHO?
After reading this piece that may very well be what some of you are saying. If you go back less than 2 years when AMD changed to a PR (Performance Rating) to tag their chips instead of a raw MHz rating, many of us wondered why. It was heavy speculation in the rumor community that AMD was panicking because they simply couldn't keep up. To see AMD take a step backwards to their K6 days seemed a tell tale sign of troubles. That was simply not the case. AMD saw then what we showed you today, the AMD systems are simply able to outperform the Intel counter parts clock for clock. So why would AMD continue to take the OEM hit that it was taking by people that wanted to buy the "fastest processor made"? AMD made a smart decision then, and they continue to earn that right today with the solid performance of their CPU's.
NOT SO FAST...
Before we sell the farm and declare it AMD day world wide, let's not forget a few things. For starters, at press, Intel is pushing out 3.06Ghz CPU's while AMD is picking up the rear by a good distance checking in at 2.24Ghz with their XP2800+. Even with the newly announced Barton XP3000+ CPU's AMD is slower yet, matching only the raw Mhz speed of their XP2700+. A Mhz for Mhz comparison is interesting to see, and was fun to write, but isn't theoretically possible as AMD simply doesn't have anything available in the 3Ghz range currently. Would AMD kick tail if they did? Judging by what we've seen today, almost certainly. Does that matter? Nope, because quite frankly they don't have the CPU. A common (and apparently accurate) defense for AMD is that they don't need to because they are capable of beating the Intel WITH that chip clocked 800Mhz slower, so a valid point as well.
Another very important thing to look at here is price. The CPU's we used in this comparison are an Intel Pentium4 2.4b CPU, and an AMD AthlonXP 2600+ CPU. The P4 retails for USD$192.00 while the Athlon is a whopping USD$261.00. Not exactly apples to apples is it? The one thing that may be worth noting, is that an AthlonXP 2400+ retails for about USD$20 less than the P4 we used, but that's another review. Suffice to say that for the money, you can buy more Mhz for less in a Pentium4. The flip side of that coin is that you can buy more performance for less in an AthlonXP.
CLOSING THOUGHTS:
There are a few certainties that we can take from this review. For starters, there is no denying, AMD simply out performs Intel in a head to head, clock for clock comparison. Second, if Mhz and lots of them is what is important to you, the Intel may be the way you want to go. Scalability, AMD offers nothing for Intel as AMD clocks in almost 1Ghz slower in the big picture.
We set out to see who has a more efficient CPU, we did that. What we also did once we started digging a little deeper into the price/performance questions is muddy the water. As odd as this sounds, muddy water is EXACTLY what we, the consumers, want to see. Muddy water means that their IS no clear and concise winner. It means that in some twisted way, we have parity in the CPU race, even though the speed difference is so great. All of that adds up to competition (albeit confusing), and competition means lower prices.
We've seen P4's hit 4Ghz, and we've seen AMD's @ 2.5Ghz out perform P4's at 3.3Ghz. The race is an odd one, but it is certainly a race.
The next time someone wants to discuss which chip is faster, send 'em to this review, it should help settle the argument. If someone wants to know which chip to build their system around, sorry, I can't help ya. Personally, I'm running one of each. Decisions, decisions..... :)
If you're in the market you can purchase a Pentium4 2.4Ghz CPU or an AMD AthlonXP 2600+ CPU like we used in this article for reasonable prices HERE.
If you have props, flames (likely considering the topic), comments, or suggestions, feel free to head into our forums, or drop me a line. You can also head back to OCA's front page and check out the other GooSH!™
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