Price is the area where earlier Athlon processors would really shine in comparison to similarly performing P4's. But while this processor does indeed compete with the 1.8GHz P4 in most areas and even beats the 2.0GHz P4's SysMark score, recent Intel price cuts have made it harder to compete on price. RDRAM prices, however, do keep the price of a P4 platform higher than that of an AMD DDR-SDRAM platform. So the $200 price of an Athlon XP 1800+ processor is still a good value.
AMD's Athlon XP 1800+ performs well and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, as such it does indeed live up to its expectations. The only downsides I've had to dwell on, really, were regarding a marketing decision that never fell within expectations. If they keep focusing on providing the same great performance and the same low prices that have earned them such a strong reputation among enthusiasts, I imagine we'll learn to forgive them for the silly naming scheme. But they need to stop acting like industry followers and start acting like industry leaders.
Housen Maratouk
Managing Editor
Highs:
- Great Performance
- Good price
Lows: