Intel's 925X & LGA-775: Are Prescott 3.6 and PCI Express Graphics any Faster?
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 21, 2004 12:05 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Final Words
We split this article into two sections, basically focusing on the performance of the new Pentium 4 560 (3.6GHz) as well as the performance impact of using PCI Express graphics, so we will conclude the article accordingly.The Pentium 4 560 manages to offer performance better than that of Intel's fastest Extreme Edition P4, thanks to the additional 200MHz clock increase. The performance enhancement has nothing to do with any architectural changes, as there are none, but everything to do with clock speed. If Intel wants to continue to uphold that their Extreme Edition brand is truly extreme, then a higher frequency core is necessary.
Intel's move to the LGA-775 socket leaves a somewhat foul taste in our mouth, although we do understand the engineering need for such a move. The fragility of the socket requires us to caution our loyal readers once again. Remember that it's quite easy to damage these pins, so don't rush your CPU installation. Intel quotes the mean time between failures of the new LGA-775 socket at around 20 insertions, which they claim is similar to the current Socket-478 interface; only time will tell how reliable these things really are.
With this article, we were also trying to put an end to the ATI vs. NVIDIA PCI Express debate. Our conclusion? The debate was much ado about nothing - both solutions basically perform the same. ATI's native PCI Express offering does nothing to benefit performance and NVIDIA's bridged solution does nothing to hamper performance. The poor showing of NVIDIA under Far Cry and Warcraft III is some cause for concern, which we will be looking into going forward. We will keep you all updated on any and all findings with regards to that issue as we come across them.
Be sure to read our chipset coverage of the new 925X and 915 platforms and stay tuned for more coverage later this week, including integrated graphics performance and an investigation of the impacts of Native Command Queuing support on disk performance.
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khirareq - Friday, April 1, 2005 - link
Um, sorry, but i feel that i need to point something outYou state a number of times that the pins need to be twisted in order to secure the HSF - If you read the leaflet thats included with the CPU, it staes that the Pins are twisted in order to relase the HSF for removal
Intels Manual DOwnload (>10meg):
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-...
Screenshot of the page:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v337/khirareq/?actio...
I discovered this at work the other night after spending some time trying to work out how to remove one, and resigned to reading the manual (turn out the HSF was faulty and jammed in the board anyways)
Pete - Tuesday, June 29, 2004 - link
Anand, not to get too confrontational, but have I offended you in such a way that you choose not to reply to my questions? I'm not sure why my surprise at the 6800U's gains in Far Cry aren't worth remarking on.I'd appreciate an answer. If you take exception to my questioning your numbers, I'd be satisfied with a reply to that effect, and I'd readily apologize if I've offended you with my perhaps overly blunt questioning.
justly - Sunday, June 27, 2004 - link
Anand, thank you for the response, and for the effort you put forth in getting it.A few (minor) questions could still be asked about mechanical stability, but it is much more believable than the electrical issue.
Again, thank you.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Friday, June 25, 2004 - link
justlyAs promised, I got together with Intel to talk about their statement. Intel has revised their statement and instead state that the ~40 lbs of pressure is used for mechanical stability and not for the stability of the electrical connections - good call :)
As you already mentioned, LGA-775 is a different story since it needs the pressure to keep the contact with the pins. Apparently the heatsink doesn't need to apply as much pressure as before since the mechanical stability isn't an issue with LGA-775.
So in the end it wasn't a heat transfer issue or an electrical issue, purely mechanical.
I've made the appropriate corrections to the piece.
Take care,
Anand
Pete - Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - link
Hi Anand,Any comment re: my previous post on the 6800U Far Cry numbers? Just checking if they're right. Thanks.
Cygni - Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - link
Ive actually discussed Prescott a little with a designer at Intel's Folsom facility (although this person worked on the Granite Bay chipset and then some Centrino work). He cant really figure out the chip either, but he believes that the entire purpose of Prescott hasnt been taken out from under wraps yet. Possibly mechanisims to combat the problems with increases in clock speed etc... things that are on the core, just not activated (ala HT). I guess we will see. Maybe the purpose of Prescott is to ready technologies and proccesses to combat Hammer's successor when it appears? Neither of us were sure.stephenbrooks - Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - link
Those software compilation scores do not look pretty for Intel. Looks like they'll be approaching 5GHz before a Prescott-like processor will beat even an FX-53! 8-\ New CPU core, please...araczynski - Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - link
very nice article, like the depth.sounds like the bottom line (for my tastes) is to get the 6800U and forget the intel line for another year.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - link
ThePlagiarmasterSorry, I completely forgot to post my reply to your post :)
We started using Gordion Knot because that's what we found was most recommended for high quality DivX ripping. Instead of just benchmarking every codec/ripping tool for our CPU reviews, what I'd rather do is compare all of the codecs/tools and figure out which one truly offers the best quality - then it's the performance using that configuration that matters. After all, who cares if AMD or Intel is faster if it's on an application that no one actually uses; that's not the point of a real world benchmark.
Give us time, and we will not disappoint. I've already talked to Derek about doing such an article, but now I think I'm going to push up its priority a bit.
Take care,
Anand
ThePlagiarmaster - Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - link
Anand.I take it no comment means you're off benchmarking dvd2avi for a divx showdown?? :)
Pumpkinierre,
You're welcome :) Hopefully we'll get some benchmarks here, proving once and for all who's rules the divx roost. At least Anand's users would be more informed in the end. For anyone interested LOOK HERE:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjMwLDU=
Looks like a 20% victory for AMD64 in Divx (dvd2avi). A quick look lower on the page shows Intel(3.6ghz 3.4EE) with about the same 20% victory in Divx(Xmpeg frontend). Perhaps Anand can end it all by testing one against the other?
Maybe a whole article could be done on this? With say, Ripping to Divx, Ripping R9 Retail to DVD5 (CCE/Tmpeg etc?), Ripping MP3's etc. I'm sure there are more CPU intesive ideas, but the point is finding the best app to do the same job on both platforms. Rather than a blanket statement like 'intel is better than amd at divx' when it's not clear that's true. Not with so many frontends to choose from that do the same job, and CLEARLY they perform DRASTICALLY different on each cpu (amd/intel). With games it's cut and dried (no frontends, just the game itself), but apps are a different story.
Plag