Old And Busted Pentium 4 Tech Against New Hotness Atom CPUs

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/atom-d510-pentium-4-nettop,2649.html' target='_blank'>http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...ettop,2649.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Does it make more sense to purchase a cheap Atom-based computer or to recycle and/or continue to use an existing Pentium 4 machine? Both run at decent clock speeds and come with 512 KB of L2 cache. Both can be considered above average if you have modest performance expectations. And both have a comparable transistor count: 55 million for the Pentium 4 (based on the Northwood design) and 47 millions for the Atom 230."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1279312044.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>I am sure that one can pick hairs about the differences between the two different CPUs and that the benchmarks Tom's Hardware has made do not mean much.&nbsp; I personally think they do.&nbsp; First, I'm surprised at how far we have come in that Intel has come out with a CPU that uses a fraction of the power of a Pentium 4, admittedly an easy task, but still give comparable performance at a low cost.&nbsp; Second, I do think it has shown how much computing has stagnated over the past 8 years.&nbsp; With the wide adoption of netbooks and to a lesser extent, nettops, they perform no better than 8 year old computers.&nbsp; It does say that we are probably entering an era of diminishing returns for computing, since netbooks seem to be just enough for a lot of people, but it also means that we have this lower barrier that will stick with us for years to come, possibly limiting what we can do with computers in the future.&nbsp; Of course, even then, I will not admit that I have one or two Pentium 4 computers still running.&nbsp; Anyone still using their old computers?&nbsp; Any problems in using them in the "modern" world?</p>

[EscapePod]

No problems running the older CPU, generally speaking ... er, writing. I still use them on bench rigs. On newer builds, I do tend to go with the newer, yet lower powered, CPUs. Less power means less heat, which means less noise -- one of my main goals on new builds. I've only tried one build with the Atom series, and it was OK. Previous low power choice has been the AMD 45 Watt model. With one large, fluid bearing case fan, those PCs run pretty quiet. However, it seems the manufactured Atom-based units often don't have any fans. Can't beat that for quiet.

[gdoerr56]

"It does say that we are probably entering an era of diminishing returns for computing"

I think it says exactly the opposite.

According to the article, the new Atom CPU achives the same or better (often much better) results than the P4 while using 20% of the power and about 30% of the die space IIRC. Oh, you're also getting 4 threads instead of 2.

I think we're entering a great time when you can go out and buy the machine that best suits your application. I doesn't make a whole lot of sense to go out and buy the fastest machine you can if all you're going to do is surf and run productivity applications. Similarly, if you want the biggest, baddest machine on the planet to run your games in all their multi-monitor, 3D, HD goodness, you can do that too. And as long as developers continue to find better ways to utilize more cores, the sky's kind of the limit.

The best news is that all of the new CPUs can run today's operating systems without even breaking a sweat since you've got at least two cores to throw around. It is all about choice...

[Hooch Tan]

I think we're entering a great time when you can go out and buy the machine that best suits your application. I doesn't make a whole lot of sense to go out and buy the fastest machine you can if all you're going to do is surf and run productivity applications. Similarly, if you want the biggest, baddest machine on the planet to run your games in all their multi-monitor, 3D, HD goodness, you can do that too. And as long as developers continue to find better ways to utilize more cores, the sky's kind of the limit.

I agree that there definitely seems to be a trend towards application specific devices, but what I mean about diminishing returns is that the lowest common denominator is fairly low by today's computing standards.

Take for example, if you go back a further 8 years, you're looking at Pentium and Pentium MMX based CPUs. Even the highest end at that time wouldn't be able hold a candle to the lowest end Pentium 4 or even a Celly.

A lot of Atoms are selling, and it's great. I am hoping that concepts like the Plug computer take off more, but it does seem that there is a huge spread in CPU horsepower today with the tail end really holding things back.

[timmy]

I'm also still using a 5 year old Pentium 4 3,2 GHz based computer. I'd have to say that it actually still fulfills my day to day needs except maybe from running games.

[Hooch Tan]

I'm also still using a 5 year old Pentium 4 3,2 GHz based computer. I'd have to say that it actually still fulfills my day to day needs except maybe from running games.

That does seem to be one of the driving forces behind faster computers at this point. I used to think that 1Ghz computers were fast enough, and they can accomplish a lot, but I must admit that the current generation Atom CPUs, and dual core computers make a large difference. Especially with how bloated some basic programs can be. Of course, multimedia is another big CPU hog, but cloud computing seems to be helping with that. The only issue with older P4s is their power consumption. They loved juice.

[timmy]

The only issue with older P4s is their power consumption. They loved juice.

No understatement.. My P4 is even a laptop (HP ZD-8000 series), and you can literally fry eggs on the wrist rest :D

Battery time range from 45 min to 1 hr if you are lucky, but then, it came with a 17" screen at that time and has been a real good machine. I knew the caveats before buying it, but wanted a desktop replacement and it has worked very good in that role. But now it's probably time to take a leap into 2010.. :)

[Hooch Tan]

Battery time range from 45 min to 1 hr if you are lucky, but then, it came with a 17" screen at that time and has been a real good machine. I knew the caveats before buying it, but wanted a desktop replacement and it has worked very good in that role. But now it's probably time to take a leap into 2010.. :)

The biggest difference I can really see between the old P4s and current generation computers is multi-cores. Yes, on a core-to-core comparison, the newer CPUs still toast a P4 all ways to Monday, but I find that having multiple cores makes a much bigger difference, as in, I'd prefer a dual-core Atom CPU clocked slower than a single core Atom that's faster.

As for your laptop, that 17" screen probably sucked just as much power as the CPU. I have a 17" laptop myself which barely moves, even if I want it to.