CPU Reviews & Articles

Performance

Our performance comparison gathers all of the usual suspects, including the new Pentium 4-2.4 GHz, along with previous 2.2 and 2.0A GHz models. The Pentium 4 platforms include the powerful i850/RDRAM setup, along with the more standard i845D/DDR combo. The AMD competition is provided by the trio of Athlon XP 2100+, 2000+ and 1900+ processors, all using the powerful nForce platform base.

The operating system choice is once again Windows XP Pro, and we've also added a few new benchmarks to the mix as well. In addition to our standard tests, we've increased the game count by two with Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Serious Sam 2. On the system side, we have updated to SiSoft SANDRA 2002 and also gave MadOnion.com's new PCMark 2002 Pro benchmark an invite to the party.

Test Systems

General Settings
Desktop
Resolution: 1024x768
Color Depth: 16-bit
V-Sync: Disabled

Intel i850 - Intel D850MD Motherboard
Processors: 2.4, 2.2 and 2.0A GHz Intel Pentium 4
Memory: 256 MB Kingston PC800 RDRAM
Motherboard: Intel D850MD
Motherboard chip set: Intel 850
INTEL specific drivers:
IDE Interface: 6.20
AGP Miniport: 3.20.1008
NVIDIA reference drivers: 23.11
Video Card: NVIDIA reference VisionTek GeForce3 Ti 500
Hard-Drive: IBM 30GB Deskstar 7200RPM DMA/100
IDE Interface: Ultra ATA/100
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live
CD/DVD: Panasonic DVD-ROM
Power Supply: Sparkle 400 Watt
Operating System: Windows XP Pro

Intel i845D - Intel D845BG Motherboard
Processors: 2.4, 2.2 and 2.0A GHz Intel Pentium 4
Memory: 256 MB PC2400 DIMM
Motherboard: Intel D845BG
Motherboard chip set: Intel 845D
INTEL specific drivers:
IDE Interface: 6.20
AGP Miniport: 3.20.1008
NVIDIA reference drivers: 23.11
Video Card: NVIDIA reference VisionTek GeForce3 Ti 500
Hard-Drive: IBM 30GB Deskstar 7200RPM DMA/100
IDE Interface: Ultra ATA/100
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live
CD/DVD: Panasonic DVD-ROM
Power Supply: Sparkle 400 Watt
Operating System: Windows XP Pro

NVIDIA nForce - NVIDIA Reference Motherboard
Processor: Athlon XP 2100+, 2000+ and 1900+
Memory: 256 MB PC2400 DIMM
Motherboard: NVIDIA Reference
Motherboard chip set: NVIDIA nForce
nForce Drivers: 1.0
NVIDIA reference drivers: 23.11
Video Card: VisionTek GeForce3 Ti 500
Hard-Drive: IBM 30GB Deskstar 7200RPM DMA/100
IDE Interface: Ultra ATA/100
Sound: Integrated
CD/DVD: Panasonic DVD-ROM
Power Supply: Sparkle 400 Watt
Operating System: Windows XP Pro

Quake III Arena Test Specifics
Version: 1.30 (retail)
V-Sync: Disabled
Sound Disabled
Video Modes Tested:
Normal: Defaults, 16-bit
High Quality: Defaults
Max: High Quality Default, Geometric Detail: Maximum, Texture Detail: Maximum

Return to Castle Wolfenstein Specifics:
Version 1.0
Normal and HQ Defaults

Content Creation: Winstone 2001 Test Specifics:
Version: 1.0.2

Business Winstone 2002 Test Specifics:
Version 1.0.0

PCMark 2002 Pro Test Specifics:
Build 100