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Intel 6xx Series and 3.73GHz Extreme Edition CPUs |
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64-Bit Performance, Pricing and Final Thoughts
64-BIT PERFORMANCE:
For testing 64-bit performance we installed Windows XP 64-bit release candidate 2. The installation itself was easily done. Unfortunately native 64-bit applications and benchmarks are still quite rare. The following tests are all done with a 3.73 GHz EE. We used the CPU and Multimedia benchmarks in Sandra 2005 64-bit edition. The combination of a 64-bit application running with a 64-bit OS should give the best performance and indeed both benchmarks showed tangible gains. Another question is how do 32-bit applications perform when running in a 64-bit environment. XP 64-bit users will have to run many 32-bit applications for some time until everything will be compiled in 64-bit. It took our 3.73 GHz EE 34 seconds to calculate 1 million decimal digits with 32-bit SuperPi in Windows XP 64-bit. The same job was done in 33 seconds in Windows XP 32-bit. The situation looks different in Doom 3. The frame rate dropped by 15%, a massive penalty.
We tried to reproduce our overclocking results with Windows XP-64 bit and found that our XP-64 RC2 system became unstable at around 4.10 GHz and did not allow booting above 4.20 GHz. The same CPU could boot into Windows XP 32-bit at 4.80 GHz. 64-bit looks promising, but it will take a while until we get the stability and performance optimization we are used to under Windows XP 32-bit and mature 32-bit drivers.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
With the 6xx series Intel has substantially improved the Prescott P4 product:- The doubled L2 cache is providing a modest performance gain of up to 5%.
- Speed Step and Thermal Monitoring 2 can lower operating temperature.
- EM64T makes sure that 6xx series processors will run with Windows XP 64-bit and 64-bit applications due later this year.
- The 6xx series Extreme Edition offers superior performance by virtue of its 1066 MHz system bus frequency.
- As far as we can tell from our 2 test samples: 6xx processors have great overclocking potential.
The overall battle order between AMD and Intel has not been changed with the introduction of the 6xx series and the 3.73 GHz Extreme Edition. The 6xx series does gain some ground in the all importing gaming arena, but what we have seen was not enough to catch up with the AMD competition. In video and audio encoding and in particular in multitasking the 6xx series has extended the already existing Pentium 4 lead further. We would have no problem to recommend the 6xx series without any reservation if it were not for the price. The 6xx series is currently sold 40% to 50% more expensive than the 5xx series - that’s quite a hefty surcharge for up to 5% better performance and a reduced operating temperature. These are still novelty prices - they will certainly come down over the next months. For the time being we think that the 6xx series is most attractive for long-term oriented buyers who want to make sure that the processor they buy now is already capable of running 64-bit Windows XP and 64-bit applications.
The new, Prescott core based 3.74 GHz Extreme Edition is a mixed bag. This processor offers top performance. In some applications however it is not better performing than the Gallatin based 3.46 GHz Extreme Edition. It also carries with it an extreme price. Unless it is for gaming, where AMD's A64 FX55 is the undisputed ruler, the 3.73 GHz Extreme Edition is the right choice for buyers who think they need a processor that is for many applications currently the best performing product. Otherwise a substantially cheaper P4 570 "J" clocked at 3.80 GHz would clearly offer better value for money. And hardcore PC enthusiasts are anyway looking already ahead to the looming launch of dual core desktop processors later this year.
Further reading:
Technical Documentation - Pentium 4 6xx series and 3.73 GHz Extreme Edition
Technical Documentation - Intel Pentium 4 with Hyperthreading Technology
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All original content copyright James Rolfe.
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