Intel Pentium 4 6xx and 3.73EE: Favoring Features Over Performance
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Derek Wilson on February 21, 2005 6:15 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Audio/Video Encoding
MusicMatch Jukebox 7.10
DivX 5.2.1 with AutoGK
Armed with the DivX 5.2.1 and the AutoGK front end for Gordian Knot, we took all of the processors to task at encoding a chapter out of Pirates of the Caribbean. We set AutoGK to give us 75% quality of the original DVD rip and did not encode audio.
XviD with AutoGK
Another very popular codec is the XviD codec, and thus we measured encoding performance using it instead of DivX for this next test. The rest of the variables remained the same as the DivX test.
Windows Media Encoder 9
To finish up our look at Video Encoding performance we've got two tests both involving Windows Media Encoder 9. The first test is WorldBench 5's WMV9 encoding test.
But once we crank up the requirements a bit and start doing some HD quality encoding under WMV9 the situation changes dramatically:
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KingofL337 - Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - link
Why would anyone buy a P4 for EMT64? When AMD64 isa full implementations of 64 not just a poor incomplete copy?
In Soviet Russia, Computer Reboot You!
Zebo - Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - link
"The original Prescott was a Sunday launch. "Well see what I mean..:)
Hans Maulwurf - Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - link
And remember hyperthreading - it uses only a small area on the die and increases power consumption significantly!Oh, and I would still like to know weather it ws 1T or 2T on the Athlon.
Viditor - Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - link
Reflex - First, you may very well be quite correct!Second, not all parts of the die are equal...for example, the ALU runs at twice the clockspeed of the core. The areas affected by 64bit modes MAY be disproportionally higher than the rest of the CPU (I really don't know, which is why I'm asking for a test...).
Third, the design for 64bit on Intel is quite different that on AMD. AMD designed the chip to be hybrid from the ground up, Intel had to "retrofit" their Netburst architecture to accomodate it...while they both function very similarly, their incorporation into the chip is quite dissimilar (e.g. AMD has no double-pumped ALU)
DerekWilson - Monday, February 21, 2005 - link
Intel often does sunday launches --The original Prescott was a Sunday launch.
And there was at least a couple others that I can't recall at the moment.
I've seen other sites say something to the affect of this being a sneaky launch, and I think don't think that is accurate.
I, for one, would prefer Intel not launch parts on a Sunday. But that's how its been and likely how it will be. :-/
Zebo - Monday, February 21, 2005 - link
What's up with Intel sneaking around in the dark for..Sunday night launches on a holiday weekend told me all I needed to know about this new chip release.In sure they still sell billions over AMD but the message is clear from enthusiasts prosective. If you want performance, quiet and cool you buy AMD A64's.(ageing I might add)
johnsonx - Monday, February 21, 2005 - link
In Soviet Russia, message clears YOU!damn, it's hard to stop....
johnsonx - Monday, February 21, 2005 - link
The message is clear: Soviet Russia has failed.Enough already... let's move on to the next catch phrase (if there must be a next one...).
Reflex - Monday, February 21, 2005 - link
Vidiator - 64bit uses very little die space, even once activated its not going to consume any really noticable amount of power. On an Athlon64 its estimated to be about 10% of the core. Considering how much larger a P4 core is it would account for even less percentage wise. I am not including cache in that measurement either which as you saw accounts for 50% or better.So technically it may draw a watt or two, but its not going to change the results significantly...
Viditor - Monday, February 21, 2005 - link
danidentity - "Power consumption is not going to change depending on whether you're running 64-bit apps or not"Is there a reason you expect this? My own rationale is that Intel (I'm assuming here) probably dials down a few things (ALU logic, BISTs, unneeded repeaters, etc...) unless the CPU is operating in 64bit only mode or compatiblity mode (as opposed to legacy mode).
As an example, AMD64 doesn't use the extra registers unless it's in one of the 64bit modes...
I don't know if there will be a swing in power consumption, but I am curious to see any empirical evidence one way or the other...
Derek - Thanks for the heads up on the test (Powernow usage...)!