Editor's Note: This review is based on a non-production version of the Intel Pentium 4 3.2 C processor. This processor is an engineering sample that was generously provided by Intel. Due to the state and conditions we received the CPU in we will not be including pictures of the CPU packaging for this review, as it was not provided.
Introduction
Intel is vying for your business. They are currently engaged in a battle of supremacy with AMD, a war that many consumers say is currently being won by Intel. The Pentium 4 "C" revision processor is Intel's current reigning desktop CPU. Many customers have left the AMD camp in favor of Intel once Intel released the I875 chipset. The I875 is the current chipset of choice when it comes to performance users and overclockers.
The Pentium 4 "C" revision processor was designed to run on 800 MHZ FSB mainboards, but will also work on 533 MHZ FSB mainboards. This means that your choice of a mainboards are fairly open, though you are better off going with a newer I875 or a I865-based mainboard. Reason being Intel designed the I865/I875 chipset for use with the Pentium 4 "C" revision processor and thus offers the best compatibility and performance for the Pentium 4 800 MHZ FSB processors.
As noted before, we did not receive retail packaging for the processor. A retail processor includes an aluminum heatsink with fan, an Intel sticker, and a manual with warranty information. If you buy a processor I would suggest getting a retail version for a number of important reasons. Not only do you get an Intel-approved HSF, you also get much better warranty coverage than you would with an OEM CPU. Another rumor has it that retail processors have been known to overclock better than their OEM counterparts, but that may just be a handful of cases that I have observed and not necessarily indicative of the majority of existing processors.
The top of the Pentium 4 processor is covered by an aluminum slug, which protects the CPU core as well as aid in the dissipation of heat from the core. I always liked the fact that the Pentium 4 was far more robust and immune to damage than the Athlon, which would crack if you made the slightest shift with the heatsink on a corner.
Here we can see the underside of the CPU. I know it is somewhat uneventful, but I should point out that should one of the pins get bent, you are going to have a heck of a time unbending it, as the pins are extremely closely spaced together and quite tiny.
Performance Testing
Intel Pentium 4 ES
Asus P4C800 Deluxe Mainboard
FIC AU13 (For AMD comparison testing)
Athlon XP 1700+ @ 2.4 GHZ (For AMD comparison testing)
OCZ PC-4200 EL DDR
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
Windows XP Professional w/ SP1 and latest drivers
All benchmarks were done using the latest Intel ref. drivers and component drivers. We chose the P4C800 Deluxe for its overclocking potential, which we will touch on in a bit.
Test Software
SiSoft Sandra 2004
PCMark 2002
PiFast
TMPGenc
UT2003
The comparison test bed is an Athlon XP running at 2.4GHz. Other than the motherboard and processor, the hardware components for each are identical. We will also be "underclocking" the 3.2C to 2.4C speeds in order to get an apples to oranges comparison between the Athlon and P4.
SiSoft Sandra 2004
Although a synthetic benchmark, it's a popular one, freely available if you wish to make comparison benchmarks. We will be testing the CPU, and MMX performance, using the 32-bit 2004 version.
CPU Arithmetic Benchmark
Of interesting note is that while the Athlon XP was equal the Pentium 4 in clock speed, in no way did it transfer to synthetic benchmark scores, as the Athlon XP barely pulled ahead of the Pentium 4 in our first round of SiSoft Sandra testing when both CPU's were at equal clock speed. The Pentium 4 showed its muscle in the second round when it had an 800 MHZ advantage on the Athlon XP.
CPU Multimedia Benchmark
The pattern does continue, proving that clock speed isn't everything, as the 2400 MHZ Athlon kept ahead of the 2.4 C by a small margin. The 3.2 C proved to be the better of the bunch, by best the Athlon XP scores in both Sandra benchmarks. Sandra is a synthetic benchmark, so it makes little sense to base your buying decision on Sandra scores.
PC Mark 2002 CPU
PCMark 2002 shows a somewhat large difference in favor of the Athlon XP at equal clock speeds. At 3.2 C speeds the Pentium 4 overtakes the Athlon XP, but by a somewhat small margin.
PiFast
A good indicator of CPU/Motherboard performance is version 4.2, by Xavier Gourdon. We used a computation of 10000000 digits of Pi, Chudnovsky method, 1024 K FFT, and no disk memory. Note that lower scores are better, and times are in seconds.
The Pentium 4, when clocked to 2.4 GHZ was beaten convincingly by the Athlon XP. At 3.2 GHZ the Pentium 4 beat out the Athlon XP by about 2.7 seconds.
TMPGEnc 2.521
I noticed that I could never get the benchmark to encode faster than 21 seconds, indicating that perhaps the benchmark is topping out at 21 seconds. Regardless, a good showing here by the Pentium 4, as it did edge out the XP @ 2.4 GHZ by one second, although it may not be indicative of how much faster the 3.2 is, since 21 seconds seems to be a top off point for this benchmark, at least with the file we use at VL.
Unreal Tournament 2003: Antalus, Min Detail @ 640
The Athlon XP shows that at equal clock speeds it can be considered superior to the Pentium 4 in gaming as well as multimedia benchmarks. At 3.2 GHZ the winner is crystal clear, as the Pentium 4 used it brute force to spit out 344 FPS, which is quite impressive.
Possible Issue
It is worth noting that my USB Cable modem from Motorola caused reboots when SMP was enabled from within the BIOS. It was quite interesting, as I spent days trying to pinpoint why my system would casually reboot. It was after I went through every single part and replaced it that I had stumbled across an FAQ on the Motorola site talking about their modem drivers causing crashes under SMP. I just thought it was the funniest thing, a modem causing so many issues. Oh well, just thought I'd pass that little tidbit of info on, should any of you be experiencing the same issues.
Overclocking
The Pentium 4 has earned a reputation as a solid overclocker. For those looking to invest little time or effort in their overclocking endeavors I wouldn't suggest a Pentium 4, as it is a processor that you will certainly want to experiment with and try quite a few different tricks on in order to squeeze every bit of speed from the CPU that you can.
When overclocking the Pentium 4 you need to ensure that a high quality mainboard, memory and HSF are used. For overclocking we used our test setup, the Asus P4C800 Deluxe paired with OCZ PC-4200 EL DDR memory. Our maximum overclock was at 3.6 GHZ on this particular CPU. When clocked above 3600 MHZ the system would boot, but exhibited random reboots as well as constant crashes. We thought we were going smooth at 3700 MHZ for a while, but an OS reinstall was necessary after our system files became corrupted. It seems that at 3.6 GHZ at 1.8 volts the Pentium 4 reaches its theoretical limit.
Conclusion
The Intel Pentium 4 is certainly the processor to get if you want the absolute best mix of performance, overclockability, value and stability for your desktop system. Budget-minded customers should seek solace with the AMD Athlon XP 2500+ or 3200+ processor's for now, as our testing shows very little difference in performance between the our Athlon XP @ 2400 MHZ and the Pentium 4 3.2 C, although the Pentium 4 outperformed the Athlon XP-based system in every benchmark when the two processors were run at their maximum stable overclocked speeds. The Pentium 4 also proved to be a lot more stable under extreme overclocking conditions, something our AMD Athlon XP system struggled with throughout testing. Keep in mind that at equal clocks speeds, the Athlon XP somewhat embarrassed the P4, a trend that has been happening since the Athlon XP and P4 began battling it out.
The Pentium 4 "C" processors that are being manufactured and distributed by Intel at the moment are known to be quite the decent overclocker, especially when paired with a good I875-based board such as the Asus P4C800-E or the Abit IC7 Max3. While our particular Pentium 4 sample reached a deadlock at 3.6 GHZ with air cooling and 1.8 volts, we were quite impressed; especially considering this was an early engineering sample that has definitely seen its fair share of use.
The Pentium 4 processors that you purchase online will not be multiplier unlocked as our sample was today, so you must keep in mind that a store-bought 3.2 C Pentium 4 may not overclock as well as our sample did, simply because the multiplier of the 3.2 C is too high to allow for FSB's over 230-240 MHZ when using conventional cooling methods. The processor is still fairly pricey, ringing in at about , but this is much cheaper than the Extreme Edition P4, should it materialize for the public.
With VIA releasing their new Pentium 4 chipsets and with mainboard manufacturers looking to improve upon their i865/i875-based mainboards, now is a better time than any to purchase an Intel Pentium 4 processor.
Pros
Typical Pentium 4 offers good overclocking potential
Quite durable
Does not have the heat/durability issues associated with the Athlon XP
Hyperthreading is a nice bonus, as it does aid in SMP-capable applications
Cons
Somewhat expensive
Does not beat out the Athlon XP convincingly
Locked multiplier
Bottom Line
The Intel Pentium 4 "C" revision processor offers excellent overclocking potential along with incredible out of the box performance. Compatiblity is not an issue and the Pentium 4 has never been known as a bad apple when it comes to heat and durability, an issue that has plagued AMD in the past. Look for the Pentium 4 "C" to continue its popularity trend until AMD lowers the price of the Athlon 64 FX.
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