Ok, here's the plan
Now, let's move on to our test results. We'll start with 32-bit benchmarks to test the performance impact of the larger L2 cache, and then we'll move to power consumption, where we can see the influence of the power management features in these new processors. Finally, in a follow-up article, we'll take a look at 64-bit performance with Windows XP Professional x64.
In order to compare the 32-bit performance of the new Pentium 4 processors to the widest possible range of competitors, including the Pentium M, I've reused some test results from my previous articles. I hope you'll forgive the use of an AGP motherboard on the Athlon 64 system, but there wasn't time to retest everything. Generally, the move to PCI Express doesn't change performance much in current applications. If you'd like to see how the Athlon 64 4000+ performs on a couple of new PCI Express chipsets, please have a look at this article. The results are largely comparable to the ones you'll see here.
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:
| Processor | Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz (S939) Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (90nm) Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4GHz Athlon 64 FX-55 2.6GHz | Pentium M 755 2.0GHz | Pentium 4 540 3.2GHz Pentium 4 550 3.4GHz Pentium 4 560 3.6GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.4GHz | Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.46GHz |
| Pentium 4 640 3.2GHz Pentium 4 650 3.4GHz Pentium 4 660 3.6GHz | ||||
| Pentium M 755 at 2.4GHz | Pentium 4 570J 3.8GHz | |||
| Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73GHz | ||||
| System bus | 1GHz HyperTransport | 400MHz (100MHz quad-pumped) | 800MHz (200MHz quad-pumped) | 1066MHz (266MHz quad-pumped) |
| 800MHz (200MHz quad-pumped) | ||||
| 533MHz (133MHz quad-pumped) | ||||
| 1066MHz (266MHz quad-pumped) | ||||
| Motherboard | Asus A8V Deluxe | DFI 855GME-MGF | Abit AA8 DuraMax | Intel D925XECV2 |
| BIOS revision | 1008 beta 1 | 55GMDC06 | 1.4 | CV92510A.86A.0338 |
| CV92510A.86A.0394.EB | ||||
| 1.7 | ||||
| CV92510A.86A.0394.EB | ||||
| North bridge | K8T800 Pro | 855GME | 925X MCH | 925XE MCH |
| South bridge | VT8237 | 6300ESB ICH | ICH6R | ICH6R |
| Chipset drivers | 4-in-1 v.1.11 beta (9/7/04) | INF Update 6.0.1.1002 IAA for RAID 4.5.0.6515 | INF Update 6.0.1.1002 IAA for RAID 4.5.0.6515 | INF Update 6.0.1.1002 IAA for RAID 4.5.0.6515 |
| Memory size | 1GB (2 DIMMs) | 1GB (2 DIMMs) | 1GB (2 DIMMs) | 1GB (2 DIMMs) |
| Memory type | OCZ PC3200 EL DDR SDRAM at 400MHz | OCZ PC3200 EL DDR SDRAM at 333MHz | OCZ PC2 5300 DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz | OCZ PC2 5300 DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz |
| CAS latency (CL) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| RAS precharge (tRP) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Cycle time (tRAS) | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| Hard drive | Maxtor MaXLine III 250GB SATA 150 | |||
| Audio | Integrated VT8237/ALC850 with 3.64 drivers | Integrated 6300ESB/ALC655 with 5.10.0.5750 drivers | Integrated ICH6R/ALC880 with 5.10.0.5022 drivers | Integrated ICH6R/ALC880 with 5.10.0.5032 drivers |
| InGraphics | GeForce 6800 GT 256MB AGP with ForceWare 66.81 drivers | GeForce 6800 GT 256MB AGP with ForceWare 66.81 drivers | GeForce 6800 GT 256MB PCI-E with ForceWare 66.81 drivers | GeForce 6800 GT 256MB PCI-E with ForceWare 66.81 drivers |
| OS | Microsoft Windows XP Professional | |||
| OS updates | Service Pack 2, DirectX 9.0c | |||
All tests on the Pentium 4 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.
Also, all of our test systems were powered by OCZ PowerStream power supply units. The PowerStream was one of our Editor's Choice winners in our latest PSU round-up.
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 1.1 with trdelta1 demo
- Far Cry 1.2 with tr3-pier demo
- 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
- POV-Ray for Windows 3.6
- 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.
