Final Words
After more than a month of grueling tests and benchmarking, we've come to a final conclusion. There's not a single doubt that the 32-bit processor performance crown belongs to Intel Pentium 4. We think the Pentium 4 will stay this way for a while as we know Intel has really big plans to further expand the performance and value of this processor.
We know that Prescott will be Intel's next Pentium 4 processor and it's going to be based on the 90nm manufacturing process. If we draw a parallel with Northwood, we think Presscott should help Intel to scale the processor speed further by more than a GHz. In addition, don't forget that the performance of Prescott will not only be limited by frequency clock gains, but it will come with a huge 1MB Level 2 cache. That will seriously give AMD's Athlon 64 series a tough fight in the 32-bit space. Industry sources told us that Intel will further scale the front side bus and from our overclocking test, the 875P is already capable of hitting speeds in excess of 1.2GHz FSB. Just think of how much more performance you'll get considering all these factors alone.
Although AMD lost this showdown, let's not forget that the up and coming Athlon 64 will help them make a very quick comeback. While it's still very premature to say that the Athlon 64 will help it gain big advantage over the Pentium 4 due to its 64-bit processing capability, we think that AMD will pose a very real threat to Intel. Still, software and driver support will pose to be AMD's biggest barrier and it will be a while before the Athlon 64 will show its true colors in a native 64-bit Windows environment.
When it comes to value, nothing offers more value for money than AMD's Athlon XP 2500+ and 2600+ processors. These are the ones you should purchase if you're on a real tight budget. Let's not consider overclocking yet, as that would tip the scale in favor of Intel since we know that most 2.4GHz Pentium 4 processors are capable of wonders. Since overclocking is never a sure thing, we think it's not fair to add that into the equation.
Having said that, let's not also forget that Intel and AMD has pretty similar pricing trends when it comes to how much you should pay for performance. In our various calculations, we realized that AMD is actually overcharging their Athlon XP 3200+ processors. In addition to that, our calculations seem to suggest that it's not worth to invest on a high-speed Athlon XP processor. This is due to AMD's pricing and model numbering (True Performance Initiative) that actually made their high-speed processors very undesirable in the eyes of consumers. Simply put, you don't get what you paid for. Although Intel and AMD have the same pricing trends, Intel still offers more value than AMD especially when it comes to high-speed processors.
The winner of this 32-bit CPU showdown goes to Intel Pentium 4 for its excellent performance, consistent performance scaling and reasonable pricing strategy. Although AMD gave Intel a good fight to the end and lost the showdown, they did not walk away empty-handed as we have decided to award them the Best Value award for its excellent value offered by both the Athlon XP 2500+ and Athlon XP 2600+ processors.
The Awards
|
Best Value - AMD Athlon XP 2500+ and 2600+
|
|
|
Winner of the 32-bit CPU showdown - Intel Pentium 4
|
|