System Setup

System Setup

Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz Extreme Edition (800MHz bus, LGA775)
Intel Pentium 4 3.6GHz (90nm, LGA775)
AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 (939)
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (939)

Intel 925XCV 925X Motherboard
MSI 6702E Socket 939 K8T800 Pro Motherboard

1GB Micron 4-4-4 PC4300 DDR2 Memory (2x512MB)
1GB Corsair 2-3-2-6 PC3200 DDR Memory (2x512MB)

ATI RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition 256MB AGP
ATI RADEON X800 XT 256MB PCI Express
CATALYST 4.6

250GB Maxtor MaXLine III RAID 0 Array (16MB cache)

Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1

DirectX 9.0b

Desktop resolution 1024x768, 32-bit color, 85Hz refresh

Evaluating gaming performance is hard enough, all variables being equal. Some tests aren’t consistent, while others can be skewed through software optimizations. When you start adding different hardware components, things really get tricky. For the purpose of this piece, the difference between DDR2 and DDR memory is applicable, as is PCI Express versus AGP. The performance variability between Intel’s Pentium 4 and AMD’s Athlon 64 is also relevant.

Variation attributable to different hard drives is not permissible, however, nor is a difference in video cards. We addressed this by testing with ATI’s X800 XT PCI Express and the X800 XT Platinum Edition. The former operates at 500/500MHz, while the latter was down-clocked to 500/500MHz using a beta copy of Powerstrip. Thus, the difference between Intel and AMD platforms is entirely due to the performance characteristics of DDR2 memory, core logic, the latest processors, and whatever limited variation introduced by PCI Express graphics.

Note that both ATI and NVIDIA had PCI Express graphics cards on hand for evaluation, NVIDIA with its GeForce 6800 GT and ATI with X600 XT and X800 XT boards. Due to unavailability of the 6800 GT in AGP trim, we were precluded from testing with that card. Note also that ATI’s X600 XT does not require the six-pin power plug needed on the higher-end cards.

Benchmarks

PC Magazine Business Winstone 2004
PC Magazine Content Creation Winstone 2004
SiSoft Sandra 2004
Novalogic Comanche 4
Square Enix Final Fantasy XI Benchmark 2
Epic Unreal Tournament 2004
id Software Quake III v.1.32
Crytek Far Cry 1.1