<!—#set var="article_header" value="The Die Has Been Cast:
Pentium 4/2533 vs. Athlon XP 2100+» —>
Joining The Next Round — P4 Gets Yet Another Performance Boost
We can hardly remember it anymore. After its first release in November 2000, Intel’s Pentium 4 processor had a rather hard time to win customers and many started wondering if Pentium 4 would turn out to be a failure. Then came the days of the i845 chipset, inviting SDRAM into the domain of Intel’s top-notch processor and things improved. The real breakthrough however came with the launch of the Pentium 4 «A», carrying the new «Northwood» core. «Northwood» won the masses. Intel likes it, because it is cheap to produce the new Pentium 4 and because, for the time being, it is able to beat whatever AMD throws at them. Customers like it, because Intel reduced prices, because the new P4 is a no-brainer in terms of installation and maintenance and because its performance is even refreshingly close to Intel’s marketing hype.
Today, the times for AMD’s AthlonXP have just got another bit harder. AMD’s current flagship CPU did not have too much fun lately, even though it still provides by far the best bang for the buck and quite a big bang at that. First AMD invented the Athlon XP model rating against the clock speed lead of Intel’s Pentium 4 processor. While Pentium 4 is utterly unable to do as much «work» as AMD’s Athlon XP per clock cycle, it still can boost the higher MHz or rather GHz number, which is what sells processors and systems to the not so computer literate majority out there. The press did not welcome the model rating, but it still worked out well, saving AthlonXP’s honor. However, then Intel came with «Northwood» and Pentium 4 suddenly got faster, smaller, cooler and … can you believe it? … cheaper!
Already now, Intel is supplying Pentium 4 at up to 2.4 GHz, while the highest ranking Athlon XP only comes with the model number «2100+». Still, this Athlon XP is impressively close to Intel’s P4-flagship. Now Intel finally decided to pull away with the introduction of the «533 MHz'» processor bus or «Front Side Bus» and a Pentium 4 at 2533 MHz that uses it.
It wouldn’t be an Intel launch if there weren’t some irritating quirks coming along with it. We’ll tell you all about it.
Old Chipset, New Label: Intel 850E
Since the end of last year, Intel has provided three different chipsets for Pentium 4:
- Intel 845 — SDRAM for Pentium 4. The one that the majority buys (it is slow and somewhat pathetic, but cheaaap!!!).
- Intel 845D — DDR SDRAM for Pentium 4. The one that the majority likes and that performance-aware people buy. It’s still inexpensive and performs rather well.
- Intel 850 — RDRAM for Pentium 4. This is the one that nobody likes and only few buy, but it’s also the one providing the best performance. Surprisingly, RDRAM has finally reached acceptable price points, so besides the shady business practices of the company that owns the license (Rambus Inc.), the memory is actually acceptable nowadays.
With the introduction of the ‘new’ processor bus or ‘front side bus’ clock, Intel had to introduce a new chipset as well, or at least give the child a new name. «i850 is dead! Long live i850E!»
Intel’s ‘new’ i850E chipset is practically nothing else but the ‘old’ i850, with the only difference that it has been validated for the new processor bus clock. This new ‘front side bus’ has actually really only been increased from 100 to 133 MHz, but because data is transported at ‘quadruple data rate’ on this bus, Intel’s marketing machine multiplies the actual bus clock with 4 and so the old bus clock was ‘400 MHz’ and the new bus clock is ‘533 MHz’. What counts is the fact that we have an increase in processor bus bandwidth of 33.3% over previous Pentium 4 models.
OK, we have understood that and we are content, but now comes the «intelish’ part of this chipset introduction. Intel deemphasizes two things that one would have considered to go without saying.
- According to Intel, i850E does not officially support the new PC1066 RDRAM, which benefits from a new Rambus memory clock increase from 400 (PC800) to 533 MHz, resulting in a 33.3% increase in memory bandwidth (3200 MB/s to 4266 MB/s in case of the dual channel Rambus platform i850). This new memory is what gives the 533 MHz FSB Pentium 4 processors the real kick.
- To save the time as well as money for a new round of validation, i850E does not officially support the new ICH4 southbridge that includes USB 2.0. Instead, except for the new 533 MHz front side bus, Intel wants i850E to remain pretty much like the slowly aging i850 chipset (which after all goes back to November 2000), using the slower PC800 RDRAM even though PC1066 RDRAM is available and the old ICH2 and only four USB 1.1 ports instead of ICH4 with its six USB 2.0 USB ports.
Now what do you say? Is that intelish enough for you? Intel officials say clearly, that the Pentium 4 performance platform will be i850E and they always emphasize to us reviewers that they prefer us using this platform when we want to compare P4-performance against AMD’s AthlonXP. However, Intel shows utter lack of sincerity when it does not officially support PC1066 RDRAM and feeds the ‘performance customer’ that buys an i850E platform with an inferior southbridge chip, making sure that this customer has to pay extra money for extra USB 2.0 hardware. In order to make RDRAM boards attractive, motherboard manufacturers such as Asus, Intel, MSI and Iwill will be having their boards equipped with special chips for USB 2.0 support, of course at a premium.
What it boils down to is that Intel doesn’t really care much for selling i850E. Instead, the main focus seems to lie on selling all kinds of different flavors of i845, which will be coming up in a couple of weeks. Those i845 versions will also support the 533 MHz FSB and they all come with the fancy ICH4 south bridge chip. They either support DDR-SDRAM or normal SDRAM, they will run the new P4 processors at 2.26, 2.4 and 2.53 GHz and you get 6 USB 2.0 ports as well … sounds better, doesn’t it?
Only Few 850E Boards Available Right Now
A mainboard from the market leader: Asus P4T533-E with the Intel 850E chipset was used as a test platform.
Currently, motherboard manufacturers are holding back with their offerings of 850E boards. To be more exact, during the testing period, only boards from Asus and Iwill were made available to us. It seems that other board makers have not quite decided on their strategy. However, the guarantee for trouble free operation of this combination will be up to the board makers alone.
By reducing the number of layers from 6 to 4, the production of 850E boards can be more cost-effective. Basically, the costs are identical to the manufacture of boards for AMD Athlon that are based on Socket 462. The 4-layer motherboards can be recognized by the shifted position of the RIMM memory slots.
Response From AMD: Waiting For Thoroughbred
It won’t be long anymore. On the left Athlon XP with ‘Palomino’ core, on the right the upcoming ‘Thoroughbred’ core.
It won’t be long until AMD will be launching the Athlon XP 2200+, which will be based on the new Thoroughbred core. The new .13-micron process of Thoroughbred allows higher clock rates, less voltage and less power dissipation. Other than that, Tbred will be using the same specs as its predecessor Palomino. The L2-cache will remain at 256 kB and the front side bus will stay 266 MHz. Rumor says that those numbers won’t change until the AMD Claw Hammer comes out at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.
Comparison: 12 Different Chipsets for P4
This table lists all chipsets for the Socket 478 platform. Along with the ones that are soon to come, there is a total of 12 different Pentium 4 chipsets from Intel, SiS and VIA. With regard to the best performance, the Intel chipsets are positioned quite well, while VIA, which, to be exact, does not have a P4 bus license, is at a bit of a disadvantage with its P4X component. The development at SiS is interesting: the manufacturer has a license and is working on SiS 648, which is the first of its chipsets to use a Rambus memory interface.
| Chipset | Intel 850E | Intel 845G | Intel 845E | SiS 648 | SiS 645DX | SiS 645 |
| Introduction | May 2002 | May 2002 | May 2002 | November 2002 | March 2002 | November 2001 |
| Processor Plattform | Socket 478 | Socket 478 | Socket 478 | Socket 478 | Socket 478 | Socket 478 |
| Supported CPU | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 |
| Chipset Northbridge | Intel KC82850E | Intel RG82850E | Intel RG8245EES | SiS 648 | SiS 645DX | SiS 645 |
| Chipset Southbridge | Intel 82801 BA «ICH2» | Intel 82801 DB «ICH4» | Intel 82801 DB «ICH4» | SiS 961 | SiS 961 | SiS 961 |
| Front Side Bus Clock | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 400 MHz/533 MHz | 100/133/166 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 400/533/600 MHz | 100/133/166/200 MHz | 100/133 MHz |
| Asynchronous Memory Clock | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| max. # DIMM-Slots | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| max. Memory | 2048 MB | 3072 MB | 3072 MB | 2048 MB | 3072 MB | 3072 MB |
| SDRAM Support | no | yes | yes | no | yes | yes |
| DDR SDRAM Support | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| VC SDRAM Support | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| RDRAM Support | yes | no | no | no | no | no |
| Dual Channel RDRAM Support | yes | no | no | no | no | no |
| Ultra-DMA/33/66/100 | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes |
| Ultra-DMA/133 | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| Max. # USB | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| USB 2.0 | no | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Max.# PCI Slots | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Integrated Graphics | no | yes | no | yes | yes | yes |
| AGP 1x / 2x / 4x | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes |
| AGP 8x | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| ACPI Features | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Chipset | Intel 850 | Intel 845D | Intel 845 | VIA P4X266 | VIA P4X266A |
| Introduction | January 2001 | December 2001 | July 2001 | August 2001 | December 2001 |
| Processor Plattform | Socket 423/478 | Socket 478 | Socket 423/478 | Socket 423/478 | Socket 478 |
| Supported CPU | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 |
| Chipset Northbridge | Intel KC82850 | Intel 82845 | Intel 82845 | VIA VT8753 | VIA P4X266A |
| Chipset Southbridge | Intel 82801 BA «ICH2» | Intel 82801 BA «ICH2» | Intel 82801 BA «ICH2» | VIA VT8233 | VIA VT8233A |
| Front Side Bus Clock | 100/133 MHz | 66/100/133 MHz | 66/100/133 MHz | 100 MHz | 100 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 400 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz |
| Asynchronous Memory Clock | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| max. # DIMM-Slots | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| max. Memory | 2048 MB | 2048 MB | 2048 MB | 4096 MB | 3072 MB |
| SDRAM Support | no | no | yes | yes | yes |
| DDR SDRAM Support | no | yes | no | yes | yes |
| VC SDRAM Support | no | no | no | yes | yes |
| RDRAM Support | yes | no | no | no | no |
| Dual Channel RDRAM Support | yes | no | no | no | no |
| Ultra-DMA/33/66/100 | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes |
| Ultra-DMA/133 | no | no | no | no | yes |
| Max. # USB | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| USB 2.0 | no | no | yes | no | yes |
| Max.# PCI Slots | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Integrated Graphics | no | no | no | no | no |
| AGP 1x / 2x / 4x | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes |
| AGP 8x | no | no | no | no | yes |
| ACPI Features | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Test Setup and Details
| Intel Hardware (Socket 478) | |
| Processors 1 133 MHz FSB — 533 MHz Memory Clock |
Pentium 4A 2.5 GHz (2533 MHz) Pentium 4A 2.4 GHz (2400 MHz) |
| Processors 2 100 MHz FSB — 400 MHz Memory Clock |
Pentium 4 2.4 GHz (2400 MHz) Pentium 4 2.2 GHz (2200 MHz) Pentium 4A 2.0 GHz (2000 MHz) Pentium 4A 1.8 GHz (1800 MHz) Pentium 4A 1.6 GHz (1600 MHz) Pentium 4 2.0 GHz (2000 MHz) Pentium 4 1.9 GHz (1900 MHz) Pentium 4 1.8 GHz (1800 MHz) Pentium 4 1.7 GHz (1700 MHz) Pentium 4 1.6 GHz (1600 MHz) Pentium 4 1.5 GHz (1500 MHz) Pentium 4 1.4 GHz (1400 MHz) |
| Motherboard 1 | ABIT TH7II (I850) Revision: 1.0 Bios: TH7H_38 |
| Motherboard 2 | Asus P4T533-C (I850E) Revision: Bios: 1001 BETA 007 |
| Memory 1 | 2x 256 MB RDRAM, PC800, 533 MHz, 40ns, Infineon |
| Memory 2 | 4x 128 MB RDRAM, PC1066, 400 MHz, 35ns, Samsung |
| AMD Hardware (Socket 462) | |
| Processors 1 133 MHz FSB — 166 MHz Memory Clock |
Athlon XP 2100+ (1733 MHz) Athlon XP 2000+ (1666 MHz) Athlon XP 1900+ (1600 MHz) Athlon XP 1800+ (1533 MHz) Athlon XP 1700+ (1466 MHz) Athlon XP 1600+ (1400 MHz) Athlon XP 1500+ (1333 MHz) Athlon 1400 (1400 MHz) |
| Processors 2 100 MHz FSB — 133 MHz Memory Clock |
Athlon 850 (850/100/133 MHz) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-7VRXP Revision: 1.1 Bios: M5 |
| Memory | 512 MB DDR-SDRAM, CL2.0, 166 MHz, PC2700, Winbond |
| Common Hardware | |
| Graphics Card | GeForce 3 Ti 500 (MSI MS-8854) Memory: 64 MB DDR-SDRAM Memory Clock: 500 MHz Chiptakt: 240 MHz |
| Hard Disk | 40 GB, 5T040H4, Maxtor UDMA100 7200 rpm 2 MB Cache |
| Drivers & Software | |
| Graphics Driver | Detonator 4 Serie V28.32 |
| VIA KT333A Driver | 4 in 1 Version: 4.38(2)v(a) |
| DirectX Version | 8.1 |
| Intel 850E Driver | V 4.00.1009 |
| Intel 850 Driver | V 3.20.1008 |
| Intel IAA Driver | V 2.0 |
| OS | Windows XP, Build 2600 (English) |
| Benchmarks & Settings | |
| Quake III Arena | Retail Version 1.16 command line = +set cd_nocd 1 +set s_initsound 0 Graphics detail set to ‘Normal’ Benchmark using ‘Q3DEMO1’ |
| 3DMark2000 Pro | Version 1.1 Build 340 — default Benchmark |
| 3DMark2001 Pro | Build 200 — default Benchmark |
| PCMark2002 Pro | only CPU and Memory Bench (no Video Memory) |
| SiSoft Sandra 2001 | Professional Version 2001.3.7.50 |
| Newtek Lightwave | Version 7b Rendering Bench SKULL_HEAD_NEWEST.LWS |
| mpeg4 encoding | Xmpeg 4.5 DivX 5.01 Pro (YV12) Compression/quality: Slowest Data Rate: 780 Kbit Format: 720×576 Pixel@25 fps 150 MB VOB-Datei, no Audio |
| Studio 7 | Version 7.31.6 (MPEG 2) |
| Sysmark 2002 | no Patch |
| Lame | Lame 3.91 MMX, SSE, SSE 2, 3DNow! |
| WinACE | 2.11, 178 MB Wave-Datei, Best compression, Dictonary 4096 KB |
| Cinema 4D XL R7 | Version V7.303 Rendering: 1024×768 |
| 3D Studio Max | Version 4.2 Rendering of the «Rabbit» scene 800×600 10 Frames |
Price Comparison: P4 vs. Athlon XP
| Processor | Price per 1000 |
| Intel Pentium 4/2533A | US$ 637 |
| Intel Pentium 4/2400A | US$ 562 |
| Intel Pentium 4/2200A | US$ 379 |
| Intel Pentium 4/2000A | US$ 289 |
| AMD Athlon XP 2100+ | US$ 269 |
| AMD Athlon XP 2000+ | US$ 222 |
| AMD Athlon XP 1900+ | US$ 159 |
| AMD Athlon XP 1800+ | US$ 124 |
Benchmarks Under Windows XP
| OpenGL Performance | Quake 3 Arena «Demo 1» and «NV15 Demo» |
| 3D Rendering | Lightwave 7b Cinema 4D XL 7.303 3D Studio Max 4.2 |
| DirectX7 Games | 3D Mark 2000 |
| DirectX8 Games | 3D Mark 2001 SE |
| MP3 Audio Encoding | mp3 Maker Platinum Lame mp3 Encoder 3.92 |
| MPEG-2 Video Encoding | Pinnacle Studio 7 |
| MPEG-4 Video Encoding | XMpeg 4.5 and DivX 5.01 Pro |
| Office Performance | Sysmark 2002 |
| Archiving | WinACE 2.11 |
| CPU and Multimedia Bench | SiSoft Sandra 2002 Pro |
| CPU and Memory Bench | PC Mark 2002 |
We performed a total of 25 different benchmark tests in order to obtain the most complete, well-balanced view of how the Pentium 4/2400 with 400 MHz and 533 MHz RDRAM performs. You can get a clear overall picture from the benchmark results for a total of 29 different processors — included are the Pentium 4/2533 and the Pentium 4/2666, the latter of which won’t be introduced until another few weeks. We compared this to all of the AMD Athlon XP processors, from the classic Athlon with Thunderbird core to the slowest of all, the Athlon 850. A highlight is our «Athlon XP 2400+», which we simulated with an Athlon XP running at a clock speed of 1918 MHz.
We ran four different Quake 3 tests to determine OpenGL performance. The different MPEG-encoding benchmarks provide a comprehensive testing environment — mp3 Maker Platinum and Lame MP3 Encoder were used to encode a 178 MB WAV file into «MPEG-1 Layer 3 format.» Still a classic, our MPEG-4 test converts a file from a commercial DVD-ROM into MPEG-4 format using Xmpeg 4.5 and the DivX 5.01 codec. We also created an MPEG-2 film using the video-editing software «Pinnacle Studio 7.» A regular in our list of benchmarks is determining rendering performance using Newtek’s Lightwave (version 7b). Further 3D applications include 3D Studio Max 4.2, as well as Cinema 4D XL version 7.303. We also ran WinACE Packer 2.11 to test how well the CPU performs when archiving files, a common application in the computing world. The Sysmark 2002 benchmark was used for the to determine office performance. Gaming performance under DirectX7 and DirectX8 were tested using 3D Mark 2002 and 3D Mark 2001. A newcomer is PC Mark 2002, which analyses the performance of the CPU and memory.
OpenGL Performance: Quake 3 Arena
In the four Quake 3 Arena time-demo runs, the Intel Pentium 4/2533 is ahead of the AMD Athlon XP 2100+. The Intel Pentium 4/2812 breaks a record here, achieving 374.6 fps. An Athlon 850 is just barely able to make 140 fps. The Athlon XP lacks memory throughput, causing the AMD platform to end up in the lower ranks. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
DirectX 7 Games: 3D Mark 2000
3D Mark 2000 determines DirectX 7’s Direct3D performance under Windows XP. The Pentium 4/2533 chalks up a new record with 12213 points.
DirectX 8 Games: 3D Mark 2001 SE
3D Mark 2001 determines DirectX 8’s Direct3D performance under Windows XP In this test, the Intel Pentium 4/2533 is just a nose ahead of the AMD Athlon 2100+. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
MP3 Audio Encoding: mp3 Maker Platinum
mp3 Maker Platinum was used to convert a 178 MB sound file from a WAV format to a «MPEG-1 Layer 3» format under Windows XP. The chart shows that the Pentium 4/2533 takes the top position. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
MPEG-4 Video Encoding: Xmpeg 4.5 and Divx 5.01 Pro
RAM performance is an important factor in MPEG-4 encoding. The Pentium 4/2533 holds the record with 38 fps. By contrast, the Athlon 850 shows its age with approximately 16 fps. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
MPEG-2 Video Encoding: Pinnacle Studio 7
The Pentium 4/2533 is definitely faster than its AMD rivals at creating an MPEG-2 video with Pinnacle Studio 7. The slowest candidate is once again the AMD Athlon 850, which we’ve included in this comparison. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
SiSoft Sandra 2002 Benchmarks: CPU and Multimedia
In the SiSoft Sandra Pro Benchmark 2002, the Pentium 4 with 533 MHz RDRAM proves to have the highest memory performance. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
PC Mark 2002: CPU and Memory
Here, the P4/2533 places ahead of the Athlon XP 2100+.
3D Rendering: Newtek Lightwave 7b
The Lightwave test also shows that nothing can hold a candle to the 533 MHz memory clock — the P4/2533 tales the lead. The calculations follow 8 threads simultaneously. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
3D Rendering: Cinema 4D XL 7.303
It’s a similar picture with the Cinema benchmark: the Pentium 4/2533 is ahead. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
Office/Internet Performance: Sysmark 2002
We used BAPCO’s latest SYSmark 2002, which was released only recently. It shows AMD processors in a worse light than SYSmark 2001 did and we are currently working on finding out why that is. Despite our doubt, we’ve used SYSmark 2002 to test all 29 processors on the different platforms. In all three areas, the P4/2533 is ahead of the AMD competition. In Office performance, the Pentium 4/2812 reaches a new top score of 190 points. Again, this shows that the adjustment to FSB and memory clocks help increase the performance of the P4 CPUs. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
Archiving: WinACE 2.11
Archiving is a very practical application. WinACE 2.11 was used under Windows XP to archive a 178 MB WAV file while the clock was running. The P4/2533 clearly wins over the Athlon XP 2100+. In this test, the fast memory clock of 533 MHz (grey bars) has a particularly noticeable effect. All chips that are not yet available on the market are marked with grey bars.
3D Rendering: 3D Studio Max 4.2
In this benchmark, 10 pictures from the «Rabbit» scene were calculated with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels. Again, Intel is ahead of AMD.
Conclusion: P4/2533 Leads In All Tests
The results of this test don’t leave much room for doubt, while also not offering a lot of surprise. In all 25 benchmark disciplines, the Intel Pentium 4/2533 is well ahead of the AMD Athlon XP 2100+. Together with 533 MHz RDRAM, the P4 gains accordingly in performance through an FSB clock that has been increased from 100 MHz to 133 MHz. The overclocking benchmarks show how far the processors can be pushed. Not even an overclocked AMD Athlon XP 2100+ with a water-cooling system can offer serious competition for the tuned Pentium 4/2800. Here, it should be noted that the P4/2533 ran stably at 2800 MHz with a standard CPU cooler.
Times are getting tougher for AMD if they want to stay on top of things. The new Thoroughbred core needs to be released soon and then we need to see some hefty clock speed to keep up with Intel’s Pentium 4.
Intel puts AMD out of the running — time for the Thoroughbred!
Some users might argue that the P4 was only tested with RDRAM memory, while in reality, the P4 is only available with DDR memory on the market. The answer to this is simple: all AMD CPUs were also tested using the fastest DDR333 memory (CL2) and run with the most aggressive timings. With CPU tests in particular, we expect to investigate the full technical limits of each platform with regard to stable performance.
