The Pentium 4 670 and Pentium D 820 represent two very different core designs, and depending on the game or application, differing performance levels as well. We have assembled a wide selection of high-end processors for comparison benchmarks, including both single and dual core models. From the Intel side we have the Pentium Extreme Edition 840 and Pentium 4-3.73 GHz Extreme Edition processors, along with the Pentium 4 660 (3.6 GHz) and Pentium 4 650 (3.4 GHz) (all LGA775) processors. The AMD side includes the Athlon 64 FX-55 and Athlon 64 4000+, 3800+ and 3500+ (Socket 939) models. This gives us with a good cross-section of the high-end processor market, and will show us exactly how the Pentium 4 670 and Pentium D 820 fit into the current performance structure.
Enthusiast-level processors demand corresponding platforms and peripherals, while being sure to maintain consistency with the overall reference system mix. The Pentium D 820, Pentium 4 670, 660 and 650 use the new Intel 945G Express chipset, while the higher-end Pentium Extreme Edition 840 and Pentium 4-3.73 GHz EE utilize the Intel 955X Express platform. The Athlon 64 FX-55, 4000+, 3800+ and 3500+ 939-pin processors utilize an nForce4 Ultra motherboard. The memory capacity is set at 1-GB, but due to the differing memory architectures, our Intel systems use 2x512-MB of Crucial Ballistix DDR2-533/667, while the AMD configuration features 2x512-MB of Corsair XMS PC3200LL.
The default hard disk configuration is comprised of dual Western Digital SATA 10K RPM drives set for RAID 0. The video component is also consistent through all the platforms, and the GeForce 6800GT PCI Express reference video card ensures high-end performance and scalability for our test systems. The operating system is Windows XP Pro SP2, along with DirectX 9.0c installed.
The benchmark list includes a wide range of system, CPU, memory, and gaming tests. These include the Business Winstone 2004, Content Creation Winstone 2004, PCMark 2004, SiSoft SANDRA 2005, and CINEBENCH 2003, along with TMPGEnc Xpress 3.0 for MPEG-1 and 2, XMPEG for DivX, and Windows Media Encoder 9 for WMV encoding. We also utilize popular 3D game tests like Half-Life 2, DOOM 3, 3DMark 2005, FarCry, Halo, AquaMark 3, Unreal Tournament 2004/2003, and Quake 3. Our default game benchmark setting is 1024x768x32, which is demanding enough for comparisons and more realistic as an actual game play 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.
