Pentium 4 670 3.8GHz Performance Profile
Lame MP3 Encoding and Cinebench 3D Rendering
In our custom Lame MP3 encoding test, we convert a large digital audio file to the MP3 format, which is a very popular scenario that many end users work with on a day-to-day basis to provide portability and storage of their digital audio content. In this test, we chose a large 223MB WAV file (a never-ending Grateful Dead jam) and converted it to the MP3 format. We utilized the latest 3.97 version of the Lame executable and encoding DLL for this test. Processing times are recorded below. Shorter times equate to better performance.
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Our Lame MP3 test seems to favor system memory bandwidth more than anything else, and the low latency of AMD's integrated memory controller allows the Athlon 64s to shine brightest with the new 3.97 version of Lame. The Pentium 4 Extreme Edition at 3.73GHz with a 1066MHz FSB puts up a good fight, but from there the new P4 670 clocks in 11 seconds slower although due to its slower 800MHz FSB.
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We ran two sets of numbers with Cinebench, one in single-thread mode and another in the benchmark's multi-thread mode. Please note that single-core Athlon 64s are only capable of running the single-thread test, hence the missing blue bar graphs in the chart below for all but the new Athlon 64 X2 CPU. Hyper-Threading-enabled Pentium 4 and Dual Core Pentium EE 840 processors, as well as the new Athlon 64 X2 4800+, are fully capable of running this test in its multi-thread mode, however.
The Pentium 4 670 offers up our fastest single-threaded score for the Intel processors we tested, but the dual core Pentium EE 840 smokes the fastest single core with Hyper-Threading Intel CPU available. Overall, AMD's single-threaded performance is stronger, but single-core Athlons can't compete with Intel Hyper-Threading. Finally, on the contrary, the Athlon 64 X2 4800+ strikes the best balance in this test, with its dual core design besting the Pentium EE 840 and its single-threaded performance edging out the new Pentium 4 670, as well.
