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Dual core shoot-out: Intel versus AMD

Kai Schmerer ZDNet Germany

Published: 03 Nov 2005

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Go to section: Introduction Test setup Memory & cache performance Application performance Video & audio performance Rendering performance Conclusion

Test setup

This benchmark evaluation pits AMD's and Intel's entry-level dual core processors -- the Athlon 64 X2 3800+and Pentium D 820 respectively -- against one another. Performance results from each company's top-of-the-range model -- the Athlon 64 X2 4800+ and Pentium Extreme Edition (Pentium EE) 840 -- are also presented.

Dual core CPUs on test
CPU	Athlon 64 X2	Athlon 64 X2	Pentium D	Pentium EE
Model number	3800+	4800+	820	840
Transistors	154m	233m	230m	230m
Die size	147mm2	199mm2	206mm2	206mm2
Clock frequency	2GHz	2.4GHz	2.8GHz	3.2GHz
Fabrication process	90nm	90nm	90nm	90nm
Level 2 cache	1MB	2MB	2MB	2MB
Power consumption	89W	110W	130W	130W
Hyperthreading	no	no	no	yes

Operating conditions
Intel's dual core processors can only be used with newer motherboards: specifically, the Pentium D requires the Intel 945 or 955 chipets, while the Pentium EE 840 is restricted to motherboards with the 955 chipset. The situation with AMD's dual core chips is simpler, as AMD uses the existing Socket 939 architecture. However, not every Socket 939 motherboard is automatically dual-core-compatible, and a BIOS update may be needed before a board correctly recognises the CPU's two cores.

Power consumption
The new dual core processors consume between 89W (AMD) and 130W (Intel) of power. For users, however, it's more relevant to consider the power consumption of the entire system, which we determined using a Voltcraft Energy Monitor 3000.

Test system specifications
Test system	AMD	Intel
Motherboard	Asus A8N SLI Deluxe	Asus P5WD2 Premium
Graphics card	MSI Geforce 6600GT	MSI Geforce 6600GT
Memory	2x 512 MByte DDR400 (Corsair)	2x 512 MByte DDR2-667 (Infineon)
Hard disk	Maxtor Maxline III 250GB	Maxtor Maxline III 250GB
Power supply	Antec Truepower 380Sp	Antec Truepower 380Sp
Operating system	Windows XP Professional SP2	Windows XP Professional SP2

As the table below shows, the power consumption of the AMD-based dual core systems is relatively low. This is largely due to AMD's optimised 90nm SoI (Silicon on Insulator) chip production process, which minimises current leakage – and therefore heat output -- from transistors.

With the system sitting idle at the Windows Desktop, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ uses the least power among all the dual core systems (107W). With AMD's power-saving Cool ' n ' Quiet mode activated, system power consumption even sinks below 100W, which makes the X2 3800+ particularly suitable for office use. The same cannot be said for Intel's dual core chips, the Pentium D 820 using 154W in Idle mode; unfortunately the Asus motherboard could not activate the Pentium D 820's power saving mode, so the high-end Pentium EE 840 delivers the lowest figure for the Intel dual core CPUs (145W) in this test.

Under full load, which was produced using CPU Stability Test 6.0, the high power consumption of the Intel systems compared to their AMD competition is clearly demonstrated. The most power-hungry system is the Pentium EE 840, which uses nearly 300W; even the entry-level Pentium D 820 consumes more power (245W) than AMD's high-end Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (195W). The clear winner here is AMD's entry-level X2 3800+, which uses only 162W.

Power consumption of dual core CPU systems
CPU	Athlon 64 X2	Athlon 64 X2	Pentium D	Pentium EE
Model number	3800+	4800+	820	840
Fabrication process	90nm	90nm	90nm	90nm
Idle	107W	118W	154W	175W
Idle plus power saving mode	99W	105W	n/a	145W
Fully loaded	162W	195W	245W	296W

Go to section: Introduction Test setup Memory & cache performance Application performance Video & audio performance Rendering performance Conclusion

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