Our testing methods
As ever, we did our best to deliver clean benchmark numbers. Tests were run at least twice, and the results were averaged.

Our test systems were configured like so:

We'll be looking at the Pentium 4 520's performance at both 2.8 and 3.57GHz and comparing those results to the fastest Pentium 4 and Athlon 64 processors on the market. At 2.8GHz, the Pentium 4 520 system used 2-2-2-5 memory timings and a quad-pumped 800MHz front-side bus. When running at 3.57GHz, the system used a 255MHz front-side bus (1020MHz, quad-pumped) and 2.5-4-4-8 memory timings. That gives the 3.57GHz chip an advantage in both processor and front-side bus speed, but a disadvantage when it comes to memory timings.

I should also point out that the Pentium 4 520 system used a WD Raptor WD360GD hard drive rather than a Maxtor MaXLine III. Disk subsystem performance only affects a few of our tests, so for those, we'll only be comparing the Pentium 4 520 at 2.8GHz and 3.57GHz.

All tests on the Intel systems were run with Hyper-Threading enabled.

Thanks to OCZ for providing us with memory for our testing. If you're looking to tweak out your system to the max and maybe overclock it a little, OCZ's RAM is definitely worth considering.

The test systems' Windows desktops were set at 1152x864 in 32-bit color at an 85Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests.

We used the following versions of our test applications:

• Cachemem 2.65MMX
• SiSoft Sandra 2004 SP2.b
• Compiled binary of C Linpack port from Ace's Hardware
• DOOM 3 with trdelta1 demo
• Far Cry 1.2 with tr3-pier demo
• Counter-Strike Source with trdemo1
• Unreal Tournament 2004 v3323 with trdemo1
• 3DMark05 v110
• Sphinx 3.3
• LAME 3.96.1 (build from mitiok.cjb.net)
• Xmpeg 5.0.3 with DivX Video 5.21
• Cinebench 2003
• picCOLOR v4.0 build 479
• WorldBench 5.0

The tests and methods we employ are generally publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.