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We're unaware of any SMP or multithreading optimizations
that have been coded into UT2003, so we're expecting more of
the same here.
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3D Gaming
performance with Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament 2003 |
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Play time |
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Resolution:
640X480
Resolution
: 640X480
Again we see
roughly a 5 - 6% gain for the new 3.06GHz Pentium 4 versus
the 2.8GHz variant. Hyperthreading didn't buy us
anything here, nor did it hurt us to have it enabled.
We're crossing our collective fingers that the folks at Id
have coded Doom 3 with SMP or multithreading in mind, so
that we have a gaming benchmark that can exploit the
technology. At the end of the day however, that is the
remaining question, we came away with. How well
adopted will multithreading and subsequently, Intel's
Hyperthreading, become?
This new Pentium
4 core has shown promise for certain, with respect to the
new innovations in parallel processing that it brings to
market. The extra 266MHz this release offers up
doesn't hurt either and Intel has hit another clock speed
milestone at 3GHz. We've shown you environments here,
where Hyperthreading can effect performance significantly
and others where it makes little difference. The key
is are you using multithreaded applications or are you
running multiple tasks concurrently, in other words
multitasking? Since most folks do use their systems
such that they are multitasking quite often, we feel the
technology can only become more important to the end user,
in the long run.
The launch price
of the new P4 3.06GHz CPU is steep, as one would expect for
Intel's new flagship, set at $637 in lots of 1k units.
The 2.8GHz P4 has been reduced recently to $401. As
usual, it makes sense to let this CPU get out into the
retail sector for a while and let the sting fade from that
price point, before jumping in on the action.
Regardless, one can't help but be enthused with respect to
Intel's effort to bring SMP technology to the mainstream
desktop and for hitting 3GHz for the first time in PC
history.
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