Performance
With our reviews of the Duron 1 and 1.1 GHz processors, we attempted to determine exactly where performance fit into the AMD line-up. Our data was pretty conclusive in one area: the older Athlon core still outperforms a Duron of the same speed. This should be no surprise, but the Duron Morgan core is makes the fight a bit closer due to data prefetch and SSE. Features such as SSE also hold more promise outside of pure benchmarks and some may feel that owning a newer Duron makes their system a bit more future-proof compared to the Athlon.
Due to the known Athlon performance advantage over a similar-speed Duron, we're presenting benchmarks of the Duron 1.2 GHz, 1.1 GHz and 1 GHz, as well as including scores from the Duron 950 and Athlon 1.2 GHz for reference purposes. The Duron 950 should demonstrate what advantages of the enhanced core and the higher clock speed, while the Athlon 1.2 benchmarks will help to understand relative Athlon vs. Duron performance levels.
In order to match the Duron 1.2 GHz with a system configuration matching its entry-level positioning, we selected the KT133A/SDRAM platform, along with a GeForce2 Ti video card. To make benchmark comparisons easier, each of the reference CPUs either uses the 200 MHz FSB (Duron) or we have used a specific 200 MHz model (Athlon) for the tests. This makes it a pure CPU comparison, rather than letting intangibles such as system bandwidth enter into the equation.
The SDRAM memory speed was set to 133 MHz (CL2) to match the standard setting for a Duron/VIA platform. To facilitate the new SSE instruction set of the Duron 1.1 GHz, a fresh install of both Win 98SE and Win 2K was performed prior to testing, and confirmation was made that SSE instructions were recognized at the operating system level. .
Test Systems
General Settings
Desktop
Resolution: 1024x768
Color Depth: 16-bit
V-Sync: Disabled
AMD Duron 1.2 GHz (KT133A/PC133)
Processor: AMD Duron 1.2 GHz (200MHz FSB/133MHz/CL2 SDRAM Frequency)
Memory: 256 MB of Crucial PC133 SDRAM
Motherboard: MSI K7 Turbo V3.0A
Motherboard chip set: KT133A (VIA southbridge VT82C686A)
VIA Service Pack 4.35
NVIDIA reference drivers: 21.83
Video Card: Video Card: VisionTek Geforce2 Ti
Hard-Drive: IBM 30GB Deskstar 7200RPM DMA/100
IDE Interface: Ultra ATA/100
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live
CD/DVD: Panasonic 5X DVD-ROM
Power Supply: Antec 300 Watt
Operating System: Windows 98 Second Edition / Windows 2000 Professional SP2
AMD Duron 1.1 GHz (KT133A/PC133)
Processor: AMD Duron 1.1 GHz (200MHz FSB/133MHz/CL2 SDRAM Frequency)
Memory: 256 MB of Crucial PC133 SDRAM
Motherboard: MSI K7 Turbo V3.0A
Motherboard chip set: KT133A (VIA southbridge VT82C686A)
VIA Service Pack 4.35
NVIDIA reference drivers: 21.83
Video Card: Video Card: VisionTek Geforce2 Ti
Hard-Drive: IBM 30GB Deskstar 7200RPM DMA/100
IDE Interface: Ultra ATA/100
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live
CD/DVD: Panasonic 5X DVD-ROM
Power Supply: Antec 300 Watt
Operating System: Windows 98 Second Edition / Windows 2000 Professional SP2
AMD Duron 1 GHz (KT133A/PC133)
Processor: AMD Duron 1 GHz (200MHz FSB/133MHz/CL2 SDRAM Frequency)
Memory: 256 MB of Crucial PC133 SDRAM
Motherboard: MSI K7 Turbo V3.0A
Motherboard chip set: KT133A (VIA southbridge VT82C686A)
VIA Service Pack 4.35
NVIDIA reference drivers: 21.83
Video Card: Video Card: VisionTek Geforce2 Ti
Hard-Drive: IBM 30GB Deskstar 7200RPM DMA/100
IDE Interface: Ultra ATA/100
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live
CD/DVD: Panasonic 5X DVD-ROM
Power Supply: Antec 300 Watt
Operating System: Windows 98 Second Edition / Windows 2000 Professional SP2
AMD Duron 950 MHz (KT133A/PC133)
Processor: AMD Duron 950 MHz (200MHz FSB/133MHz/CL2 SDRAM Frequency)
Memory: 256 MB of Crucial PC133 SDRAM
Motherboard: MSI K7 Turbo V3.0A
Motherboard chip set: KT133A (VIA southbridge VT82C686A)
VIA Service Pack 4.35
NVIDIA reference drivers: 21.83
Video Card: Video Card: VisionTek Geforce2 Ti
Hard-Drive: IBM 30GB Deskstar 7200RPM DMA/100
IDE Interface: Ultra ATA/100
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live
CD/DVD: Panasonic 5X DVD-ROM
Power Supply: Antec 300 Watt
Operating System: Windows 98 Second Edition / Windows 2000 Professional SP2
AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz - 200 MHz DDR (KT133A/PC133)
Processor: AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz (200MHz FSB/133MHz/CL2 SDRAM Frequency)
Memory: 256 MB of Crucial PC133 SDRAM
Motherboard: MSI K7 Turbo V3.0A
Motherboard chip set: KT133A (VIA southbridge VT82C686A)
VIA Service Pack 4.35
NVIDIA reference drivers: 21.83
Video Card: Video Card: VisionTek Geforce2 Ti
Hard-Drive: IBM 30GB Deskstar 7200RPM DMA/100
IDE Interface: Ultra ATA/100
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live
CD/DVD: Panasonic 5X DVD-ROM
Power Supply: Antec 300 Watt
Operating System: Windows 98 Second Edition / Windows 2000 Professional SP2
Quake III Arena Test Specifics
- Version: 1.1 (retail)
- V-Sync: Disabled
- Version: Retail
- Video Modes Tested:
- Normal: Defaults, 640x460x16
- High Quality: Defaults
- Max: High Quality with Geometric Detail = Maximum & Texture Detail = Maximum
SiSoft SANDRA Professional 2001
Content Creation: Winstone 2001 Test Specifics:
Business Winstone 2001 Test Specifics:
BAPCO SysMark 2001 Test Specifics:
