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In the Forums... |
Posted: September 4, 2000 Written by: Tuan "Solace" Nguyen The Numbers (Cont.)  Here in Unreal Tournament we see similar results. They aren’t spectacular, but they are improvements, and give us a view of the processors when they reach that speed (which AMD has done). Analysis We see that having copper interconnects really doesn't do much for overclocking and it doesn’t do much for even regular performance gains. When processors reach 1.5GHz and beyond, copper will play an important roll in speed yields and performance gains. Overclocking the Athlon isn’t hard at all, and with a little voltage tweaking, I’m sure some of you can even reach higher speeds than what I have attained. The processor runs hot. After a few minutes of FAKK2-ing, I managed to raise the temperature of the processor to 58C or about 136.4F, which is pretty darn hot. When idling or doing a relatively low amount of computational work, the temperature remains around 38C (100.4F) to 41C (105.8F). Those temperatures aren't too bad for an overclocked processor. Conclusion As of right now, you can find AMD’s 1GHz processor in many places for about $510. That’s not a very cheap price, but it is still better than Intel’s offering. Yes, the 1GHz Pentium III is a stellar performer and its Quake 3 performance is really top notch, but for the price, it really isn’t worth it when an Athlon system leaves the Pentium III behind in most benchmarks. Also, you’ll get the added benefit of using Ultra100 channels if you opt for one of the many available Socket A motherboards. Some of them still come with Ultra66, but most of them have added Ultra100 onboard for hard drive performance mayhem as well. Make no mistakes about it folks; the new Athlons are the performance leaders in terms of overall system performance. What it really comes down to is whether you can afford the processors or not, and given price and the overclocking potential of the new Athlons and Durons, it just plain makes sense to go AMD Inside. On Intel’s side, the Celerons will give you more gaming and performance value than the high-end Pentium III’s, and it’s still difficult to go out and buy a 1GHz Pentium III in stores. Your best bet is to go for a Celeron system if you’ve got a capable BX133 platform, but given the recent price cut from AMD on all its processors, it is very, very tempting to buy an Athlon (Duron or T-bird) and accompanying motherboard. Once again, thanks for reading. Click here for a printer friendly version. |
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