48 MAXIMUMPC DECEMBER 2003
Without further ado, we present the hardware
configs that battled our battery of benchmarks.
As with all CPU showdowns in this magazine,
we tested the fastest iteration of each chip. Ourgoal isn’t to see which platform offers the most
performance per clock cycle, but rather which
company is selling the fastest overall solution,
price and processing efficiency be damned.Meet the Competitors
Athlon 64 FX-51
With its on-die memory controller, 64-bit
capability, and 1MB of L2 cache, the Athlon 64
FX is fast. In fact, it trampled upon the 3.2GHz
“vanilla” Pentium 4 in a benchmarking show-
down we ran last month.
For this month’s test-
ing, we built our own
AMD box, installing a
2.2GHz FX-51 into an
Asus SK8N mother-
board using nVidia’s
nForce3 Pro chipset. To
best match the com-
ponent configuration
that Apple sent us, we
outfitted the AMD box
with an ATI Radeon
9800 Pro videocard,
and included 1GB of
memory (registered
DDR400 operating in
dual-channel mode).
The AMD chip was paired
with Windows XP Pro, and
a 120GB parallel ATA Western Digital hard
drive with 8MB cache. This is the same drive
we used in the Intel machine. As you’ll see in
our profile of the G5, Apple used an ostensibly
faster hard drive, but we don’t think the differ-
ence is enough to skew test results.
Unlike the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (P4EE)
and Apple G5, both of which use traditional
frontside buses to connect to their core-logic
chipsets, the Athlon 64 FX-51 features an
on-die memory controller that runs at full
CPU speed internally. This memory controller,
along with the large L2 cache, helps make the
FX-51 a force to be reckoned with, even in its
32-bit mode. Although we have a beta version
of the 64-bit edition of Windows XP Pro, we
opted to run the 32-bit WinXP version for the
sake of an even comparison.
In this battle, we don’t expect AMD’s chip
to be number one in apps that take advantage
of multithreading. The P4EE includes Hyper-
Threading (a feature that provides “two virtual
CPUs on one die” in best-case scenarios),
and the Apple G5 box is actually armed with
two separate CPUs. http://www.amd.comdown we ran last month.
For this month’s test-
ing, we built our own
AMD box, installing a
2.2GHz FX-51 into an
Asus SK8N mother-
board using nVidia’s
nForce3 Pro chipset. To
best match the com-
ponent configuration
that Apple sent us, we
outfitted the AMD box
with an ATI RadeonDDR400 operating in
dual-channel mode).
The AMD chip was pairedPentium
4 Extreme
Edition
When Intel intro-
duced the P4EE in
September, scuttlebutt
had it that many Intel insid-
ers didn’t even know of the
CPU’s existence. This should tell you that the
P4EE was either a secret project or a desperate
last-ditch response to AMD’s FX-51.
To wit: In a perfect world, we think this show-
down should’ve/would’ve included Intel’s next-
gen CPU, code-named Prescott. But Prescott
may not arrive until early 2004, and instead we
have the P4EE. To produce the P4EE, it looks like
Intel simply grabbed its Xeon server processor
(which sells for $3,700 a piece), jammed it into
a Socket 478 package, and cranked up its bus
to 800MHz. The P4EE (and its Xeon progenitor)
differ from standard P4s by including a Marlon
Brando-size L3 cache of 2MB. Add in 512K of
L2 cache, and you have a total cache allotment
exceeding 2.5MB, all running at full CPU speed.
This caching approach mitigates the harsh pen-
alties of main system memory latency by keep-
ing more data and instructions cached close to
the CPU core.
We ran the 3.2GHz P4EE in an Asus P4C800-E
Deluxe motherboard using Intel’s 875P chipset,
1GB of DDR400 in dual-channel mode, an ATI
Radeon 9800 Pro, the previously mentioned
WD1200JB hard drive, and Windows XP Pro.
Intel’s frontside bus still cranks along at
800MHz, which was impressive a few months
ago, but now seems tame compared with its
competitors’ faster busses. Regardless, the
question surrounding Intel is whether the P4EE
is just a proof-of-concept intended to embar-
rass AMD, or a chip that can be purchased in
multiples of 1,000. Though we’re receiving P4EE
machines for review, Intel hasn’t yet priced the
chip, and as of press time it wasn’t being sold
in individual units online. That said, Intel doesn’t
intend to sell 25 million P4EEs. It simply needs to
reach any enthusiast who would otherwise buy
AMD’s FX-51. http://www.intel.comApple G5
Who would’ve ever thunk that a Mac would
house an IBM chip ever again? Based on the
same silicon that Big Blue uses in high-end
servers and supercomputers, the 64-bit-capable
PowerPC 970 is just spreading its wings at
2GHz—faster frequencies are imminent. Apple
is also continuing on its unusual course of
including not one, but two CPUs in its flagship
consumer desktop machine. We’re not sure how
much sense it makes to sell desktop machines
with two CPUs, especially when PC competitors
like Dell and HP include (and charge for) just
one. But from the power-user’s point of view,
multiprocessing is always an attractive proposi-
tion—provided you’re running applications that
tap both processors.
The Mac we used for this article was sent
directly to our publishing company from Apple.
(It’s not a PC, folks. You can’t build one for your-
self on the kitchen table!) The G5 was outfitted
with an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, 1GB of DDR400
running in dual-channel mode, a 160GB Serial
ATA Seagate 7200.7 hard drive with 8MB cache,
and MacOS X 10.2. The G5’s U3 core-logic
chipset supports two 1GHz buses (one for each
proc) and AGP 8x (just like the competition).
The G5’s OS wouldn’t reveal the core and
memory clock speeds for the videocard, and
Apple wouldn’t respond to our requests for the
info. This follows suit with traditional Apple style;
the company has always kept its videocard
speeds secret. We also had to rely on whatever
version of video drivers that were pre-loaded in
the OS. Apple doesn’t reveal driver information,
nor does it release separate driver updates or
allow ATI to do so.
But, hey, there’s no
faulting the beauty of
Apple’s case design.
The G5’s tower is a
breathtaking balance
of aesthetics, ease-
of-use, and smart
thermals (though
we are concerned
about its dust
filtration scheme).
http://www.apple.comallow ATI to do so.faulting the beauty of
Apple’s case design.
The G5’s tower is a
breathtaking balance
of aesthetics, ease-When Intel intro-
duced the P4EE in
September, scuttlebutt
had it that many Intel insid-(Continued on page 50)