Intel's Atom Processor Compared to 68 CPUs in Bench
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 20, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Anand
A few months ago I launched something we quickly titled "Bench". The idea behind AnandTech Bench is that it's a publicly accessible version of the database of benchmarks we've run internally. You can currently compare 34 AMD CPUs and 36 Intel CPUs in the engine across 18 benchmarks. I'm working on adding power data as well.
You can access Bench at its own URL: http://www.anandtech.com/bench
Currently Bench only has CPU data in it but there are plans to expand it to storage and GPUs in the future, the former being far easier than the latter due to constantly changing drivers. The data used in bench is the same data used in our reviews, but it has to be entered in manually after a new CPU launches. If you ever see a chip get reviewed on AT but don't see its data in Bench, drop me a line and I'll make sure it gets in there.
Today I added in data for the Atom 230 and 330 processors using Intel's D945GCLF and D945GCLF2 motherboards so you can see exactly how both single and dual-core Atom stack up to modern day desktop microprocessors.
I'm also considering running data on an older CPU. In my recent Zotac Ion review I included performance results from a single-core Northwood Pentium 4 2.66GHz processor, which inspired me to want to run a whole slew of older P4 numbers for inclusion in bench.
I don't think it's wise to spend several weeks rerunning every single old CPU out there, but I figured one or two couldn't hurt.
Any suggestions from the crowd? Is a single-core Pentium 4 good enough or would you like to see some dual-core P4 stuff? What about anything from the Athlon 64 days? Respond in the comments and come to some sort of reasonable agreement and I'll see about getting the data in there :)
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
92 Comments
View All Comments
swaaye - Thursday, May 21, 2009 - link
Would definitely like to see Pentium M in there. Athlon XP 3200+ perhaps too.fenderkb76 - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
I would love to see an Athlon 64 3200+ as this is the first Athlon 64 released in mass (other than the FX that was really a server part). Test it on a K8T800 chipset. By the way, be sure to make it the sledgehammer core 2.0 GHz with 1 MB L2 cache. I built mine in December 2003 with a MSI K8T Neo FIS2R and it's still running strong. I would like to see the difference quantified from something I can buy today.DeadpunkDave - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
Great feature. I was wondering, not if you could retest everything for folding performance but rather if you knew which of the tests that are used is the most useful for judging folding performance (in Standford's folding@home clients)?escott888 - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
This is a great quick scan tool. I know that I tend to favor older hardware since it still works for many applications. How about adding few older items just for a relative comparison? i.e. a P3 Tualatin (1.13GHz) or an Athlon MP 1800+ or maybe in a dual or quad arrangement. Maybe it would help people let go of the older tech or give them a reassurance that maybe some of it is still good enough (especially when it really cheap or free)flipmode - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
Seems it might be helpful to have the option to see the results as percentages, if that is an easy thing to do.A Pentium D 3.0 might be nice to have in there since CPUs seem to have more or less topped off at that speed.
Is there a Via Nano in there? I did not notice. It may not be worth it, dunno.
marc1000 - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
i'm just looking at it and it feels nice. the horizontal height of the bars seems to be a little too big tough.about the CPUs, i would sugest something like the 2.4ghz or 3.0ghz Northwood cores P4 (no HT) and some Athlon 64 3200+ single cores. IF (and this is a big if) possible, add a high-end dual-core P4 (like the Pentium-D 950 or 960) and some of the very first Banias CPUs (Pentium M variants).
that would be nice, because the older CPU's are very common in countries other than the USA. I for example, have 2 computers: a C2D e7200 for me and a Pentium-D 945 for my girlfriend. I just bought my C2D and gave her my old Pentium-D to replace an even older Athlon64 3200+ (that was the replacement for an even OLDER Duron 2400+, who came after a OLDER-THAN-OLDER Pentium3 800mhz...) Well, you got the point.. hehe
Nat495 - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
Perhaps something really old like a 486 or Pentium 1 just to see how all the new stuff stacks up in comparison. Be kind of interesting, I think.judasmachine - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
I'd like to see maybe a couple of AthlonXPs in the mix too. Thought totally understand that this may be too much work, as you guys are probably busy enough.SpeedEng66 - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
could you throw in a pentium-m? banias and dothandeputc26 - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
I'd like to see the top and bottom Proc from each previous major architecture. That way we could get a good feel for historical performance data.