Video 2000 MPEG Encoding

While many of the tests included in Video 2000 may be of questionable use (especially for performance testing) it does have one gem. The MPEG encoding portion of the suite is a pure CPU subsystem test that encodes frames in an MPEG animation and then displays a final framerate.

Video 2000 is one of the few benchmarks where we find a noticeable difference between the nForce and KT266A. The Athlon XP 2000+/nForce combo scores the top mark overall, while the KT266A finishes in third, behind the Pentium 4-2.2 GHz. While the differential may seem small, this is a noticeable performance lead and can conceivably add a great of time to a huge MPEG encoding job.

3DMark 2001 Pro

MadOnion's 3DMark 2001 is a very popular 3D benchmark tool, and as long as the video component is kept consistent, then it is also an adequate system/CPU test as well. 3DMark 2001 also fills the dual role of doing some idea as to which processor may be the best fit for upcoming DirectX 8.X games. Benchmark testing was performed at 1024x768 using both 16 and 32-bit color/textures, and set for Pure Hardware T&L support.

In 16-bit testing, the Pentium 4-2.2 GHz wins out by a slight margin over the Athlon XP 2000+. The situation changes when viewing the DDR platforms, as both the nForce and KT266A make short work of the i845D. Once we move to 32-bit mode, the Athlon XP 2000 takes over and outmatches all of the Pentium 4 competition.