The new LGA775 Pentium 4 560 and 3.4 GHz EE are targeted directly at the high-end of the current market, and we're matching up our benchmark testing with the best from both AMD and Intel. The processor lineup includes the Socket 478 Pentium 4-3.4 GHz Extreme Edition, the Pentium 4-3.4E Prescott and Pentium 4-3.4C Northwood on the Intel side, while AMD is represented by the Athlon 64 FX-53 (939 and 940-pin), and the Athlon 64 3800+ and Athlon 64 3400+. This gives us a nice cross-section of the high-end processor market, and provides a base of comparison to see how the top-end Intel LGA775 processors stack up.
The reference systems naturally utilize a wide range of platforms, but we've done our best to keep the base hardware and configurations consistent. The Intel LGA775 processors use an Intel 925X motherboard, while the Socket 478 Intel processors run on a high-end i875P chipset. The Socket 939 and 754 AMD side use VIA K8T800 Pro motherboards, while the Athlon 64 FX-940-pin model gets an nForce3 Pro 150 motherboard.
The new Intel platforms utilize DDR2 memory and have been outfitted with 2x512-MB of DDR-533, while the AMD and Intel DDR platforms use 2x512-MB of DDR400. The default hard disk configuration is set for RAID 0 striping, using dual-Western Digital SATA drives for the Athlon 64/Pentium 4 Socket 478 systems and dual Maxtor SATA drives for the Pentium 4 LGA775 testing.
The PCI Express video card requirement for the LGA775 testing brings up our only real configuration issue, as NVIDIA supplied a GeForce 6800GT and ATI offered up a Radeon X600, both in PCI Express models. Unfortunately, there was no way for us to use a 100% comparable video card on the AGP side, as there is no equivalent for the Radeon X600 PCI Express (it is a higher-clocked revision of the 9600 core) and we did not have an AGP version of the GeForce 6800GT. As such, we've limited the benchmark selection to CPU/platform-centric programs, and offer up both NVIDIA and ATI scores for each test.
The benchmark list includes a wide range of system, CPU, and memory tests, but the game side has been toned down considerably. The system benchmarks include new revisions of Business Winstone 2004, Content Creation Winstone 2004, PCMark 2004, SiSoft SANDRA 2004 SP1, CINEBENCH 2003, and TMPGEnc Plus for MPEG-1 and -2 encoding. The 3D game benchmarks that fit our criteria were limited to AquaMark 3, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Comanche 4, as the other game tests are very dependant on the video card, and using GeForce 6800GT and Radeon X600 results would really show us nothing. Our default game benchmark setting is 1024x768x32, which is demanding enough for comparisons and more realistic as an actual gameplay resolution, but is still prime territory for CPU-related testing.
* Please note that unless otherwise stated, all performance graph results equate to the standard "higher is better" routine.
Pentium 4 LGA775 Reference System:
Processors: Pentium 4 560 (3.6 GHz) and 3.4 GHz EE
Memory: 2 x 512-MB Micron DDR2-533
Motherboard: Intel D925XCV
Motherboard chip set: Intel 925X
ATI reference drivers: Catalyst 4.7 Beta
NVIDIA reference drivers: ForceWare 61.45
Video Cards: NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT & ATI Radeon X600
Hard-Drive: Dual Maxtor MaXLine II in RAID 0 Mode
IDE Interface: Serial ATA-150
CD/DVD: AOpen Combo Drive
Power Supply: Sparkle 400 Watt
DirectX 9.0b
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP1
Pentium 4 Socket 478 Reference System:
Processors: Pentium 4-3.4 GHz EE, 3.4E GHz, and 3.4C GHz
Memory: 2 x 512-MB Corsair PC3200LL DIMM
Motherboard: Intel D875PBZ
Motherboard chip set: Intel 875P
ATI reference drivers: Catalyst 4.5
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9800XT 256-MB
Hard-Drive: Dual Western Digital WD360 in RAID 0 Mode
IDE Interface: Serial ATA-150
CD/DVD: AOpen Combo Drive
Power Supply: Sparkle 400 Watt
DirectX 9.0b
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP1
Athlon 64 FX-53/3800+ Socket 939 Reference System:
Processor: Athlon 64 FX-53 and Athlon 64 3800+
Memory: 2 x 512-MB Corsair PC3200LL DIMM
Motherboard: MSI MS-6702E
Motherboard chip set: VIA K8T800 Pro
ATI reference drivers: Catalyst 4.5
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9800XT 256-MB
Hard-Drive: Dual Western Digital WD360 in RAID 0 Mode
IDE Interface: Serial ATA-150
CD/DVD: AOpen Combo Drive
Power Supply: ANTEC 430 Watt
DirectX 9.0b
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP1
Athlon 64 FX-53 Socket 940 Reference System:
Processor: Athlon 64 FX-53
Memory: 2 x 512-MB Registered PC3200 DIMM
Motherboard: ASUS SK8N Deluxe
Motherboard chip set: nForce3 Pro150
ATI reference drivers: Catalyst 4.5
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9800XT 256-MB
Hard-Drive: Dual Western Digital WD360 in RAID 0 Mode
IDE Interface: Serial ATA-150
CD/DVD: AOpen Combo Drive
Power Supply: ANTEC 430 Watt
DirectX 9.0b
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP1
Athlon 64 3400+ Reference System:
Processor: Athlon 64 3400+
Memory: 2 x 512-MB Corsair PC3200LL DIMM
Motherboard: ASUS K8V Deluxe
Motherboard chip set: VIA K8T800
ATI reference drivers: Catalyst 4.5
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9800XT 256-MB
Hard-Drive: Dual Western Digital WD360 in RAID 0 Mode
IDE Interface: Serial ATA-150
CD/DVD: AOpen Combo Drive
Power Supply: Sparkle 400 Watt
DirectX 9.0b
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP1
General Settings:
Desktop Resolution: 1024x768
Color Depth: 32-bit
V-Sync: Disabled
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