Benchmark Analysis

Basically, the Athlon XP 2000+ takes a back seat to the Pentium 4-2.2 GHz in most of the important benchmarks, but it does so with one very important distinction. You really need one of those pricy i850/RDRAM systems to make full use of the performance advantage, while the Athlon XP 2000+ looks to be a slightly better performer than the Pentium 4-2.2 GHz when paired with the i845D. In some ways, it's a toss-up which one is truly faster, but the Athlon XP 2000+ definitely pushes the Intel P4-2.2/i850 and beats the P4-2.2/i845D in most benchmarks.

What Does the Future Hold?

In terms of upcoming AMD processors, the most anticipated has to be the Thoroughbred core. This is AMD's real answer to the Pentium 4 Northwood, as it will feature a 0.13-micron die and potentially some enhancements or a shift in bus speeds. A higher clock speed is logical, but exactly how high AMD can take the Athlon at 0.13-micron is an open question, as is the potential ease of upgrading current systems. Intel actually reversed gears with the Northwood and didn't immediately obsolete a platform by releasing a new CPU. Let's see if AMD can match this, especially for the newer Socket A platforms.

On that same note, AMD may also migrate at least some Thoroughbred models to a higher bus speed, while ensuring 266 MHz compatibility with others. With DDR333 being the next transition in performance computing, it would only be natural to see AMD release Athlon Thoroughbred processors that could run at this higher 333 MHz system bus speed. This is similar to the Intel move to the 533 MHz CPU bus, and the tradition of simply releasing a faster processor on the same old bus may hit a wall in the very near future.