09-25-2003, 02:12 AM
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2000 Posts And This is All I Get?
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,017
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64 bit Desktop Processors for the Masses.
For those of you who have been thinking of going 64-bit on your desktops, the Athlon 64 FX-51 and Athlon 64 3200+ are finally here, but their benchmarks are beaten down by the Intel P4 3.2 Extreme Edition with 2 MB L3 cache. This is mainly due to the fact that benchmarking was performed on the alpha version of windows XP 64.
Read the review at Tom's hardware.
Note the paragraph on the last page mentioning:
"It's not yet possible to judge the performance capability of the Athlon 64 in pure 64-bit operation, since the alpha version of "Windows XP 64" we used and the dearth of available programs don't allow a clear evaluation. And the 64-bit Linux isn't really practical for daily desktop tasks. AMD delivers its GZIP Packer optimized for 64 bits with the standard package, which is a whole lot speedier compared with 32-bit operation. But a closer look at this fact reveals a marketing trap: if the code is optimized for the P4, too - as it was in our test - then the Intel CPU turns out to be faster under conventional 32-bit operation. So there's no compelling argument for 64 bits there. AMD makes its case using the chicken/egg scenario: Only once a sufficient number of Athlon 64 CPUs are available on the market will the software industry respond accordingly. Besides for solid performance in the 32-bit realm, users should consider x86-64 compatibility as something of a bonus option, even if there's no software for it at the moment. "
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