Quake III Arena
The crown for Quake III performance changed hands when we tested the Athlon XP 1900+ a while back. Before then, Quake III was definitely Pentium 4 territory. Can Northwood recapture the crown?

Most definitely. Three different Northwood configurations outpace the Athlon XP 2000+. However, the older Willamette 2GHz can't beat the Athlon XP 1800+.

Serious Sam
If Quake III seems old and musty to you, Serious Sam ought to be more up your alley.

The Athlon XP takes this one in a walk. Serious Sam has always run especially well on an Athlon, and the newest, fastest Athlon XP is no exception.

3DMark 2001
This test's top spot has changed hands more often than most Euro notes. It seems like every time a new NVIDIA driver, chipset, or processor hits the streets, we've got a new 3DMark leader. The Pentium 4 2GHz held the lead last time out. Can the Athlon XP pull into the lead?

Not exactly. Northwood at 2.2GHz is faster, but it's extremely close overall. The big story is how much faster Northwood is than Willamette—about 500 points at the same clock speed.