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Requiring zero introduction, we
have one last quick reference point, a Quake 3 Arena Time
Demo run. We set ours up at 640X480X16 and this barely
taxes the GeForce3 cards we were using in our test beds.
However, it does certainly display differences in overall
system performance and bandwidth.
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| Id Software's Quake 3 Arena Time
Demo |
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Don't leave home
without it |
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With a minimum baseline figure
of around 200 fps, what's not to love about the P4, if you
are a Q3 fan? 210 fps for our new 2GHz. friend,
certainly does warm the heart. Again, this test is
showing its age but you would be hard pressed to find a
processor review on the net, without this well know and
loved benchmark included.
In our final
analysis of the Pentium 4 2GHz. mPGA 478 processor, there
are a number of things to consider. One perspective
would be those of us who are upgrading for the first time to
this current generation of technology from AMD and Intel.
To obtain top end performance, you'll most likely need new
RAM, a Motherboard, CPU and possibly a Power Supply.
From this perspective an AMD platform certainly has a
stronger price/performance ratio. However, if you are
interested only in top shelf performance, there is nothing
on the market like a 2GHz. P4 with some RDRAM.
Another perspective
of course would be those of you that are continually
upgrading and tweaking. Here, to make a move to this
level of performance, if you own a socket 423 board, you can
stay in this form factor but 2GHz. is the end of the upgrade
line. Does it make sense to upgrade your motherboard
to this new socket 478 variety and have probably a full
product life cycle available to you? We think so.
However, sitting tight for a couple of months may be an
interesting proposition as well, with SDR and DDR supported
VIA based motherboards coming to market.
Regardless, all
told, the new 2GHz. P4 is certainly King Of The Hill with
respect to clock speed, as well as overall performance.
There will always be proponents in both camps but if you
look at our tests here, the numbers don't lie.
You think you
know your hardware?
Then get into the Forum and Strut your Stuff!
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