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Windows
2000 is truly beginning to move itself from the
exclusive Corporate Sector to the mainstream
desktop. With a friendly user interface,
better hardware driver support and exponentially
better stability, even Gamers are turning to this
once "Enterprise Only" Operating
System. What was surprising to us was the
performance level we experienced.
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| Quake
3 Arena Timedemo Benchmarks - Windows
2000Pro, Direct X 8.0 |
| The
Pentium 4 leaves the others in the
dust |
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Simply
put, Quake 3 Arena performance under Windows 2000 is
significantly faster than under Win98. In
addition, the performance lead margin for the
Pentium 4 grows even further under this OS.
Here the P4 is 64+ frames per second faster in the
640X480X16 test and 58 frames per second faster in
the at 640X480X32. Again, those that play at
high resolutions will only gain modestly due
specifically to the limitations of today's graphics
cards. However, the power of the Pentium 4
should be fairly obvious. As higher end 3D Graphics
products become available, the performance delta
should widen even further in favor of the P4.
We've
been testing the Pentium 4 reference system that
Intel sent us for about 2 weeks now. We have
looked deeply into the hardware and the performance
it brings. We hope we have given you a view as
to what can be expected from Intel's new flagship
processor and the road ahead for years to come with
this new architecture.
For
the Hot Hardware staff, the Pentium 4 is an
impressive step forward that we feel has excellent
potential. The performance of the platform as
it exists today is good but we feel there is room
for improvement. Perhaps that will come in the form
of software and applications written to take
advantage of the Pentium 4's new architecture or
perhaps that will come with higher clock speeds, DDR
SDRAM support or third party motherboards optimizing
performance. Either way, the headroom we feel
is there to bring great enhancements to the PC
moving forward.
Now
for a dose of practicality. On some levels,
the Pentium 4 is going to take some time to gain
acceptance within the mainstream. OEMs like Dell and
Gateway will have the systems available to the
masses soon but the upgrading user will have to most
likely purchase new memory and possibly a power
supply with their new chip. The Pentium 4's
cost is relatively high as well at this
juncture. However, as the platform matures the
price/performance ratio of the Pentium 4 will become
more and more attractive to the average user.
The landscape is changing again with respect to
performance computing. Intel's Pentium 4 has
arrived.
Hot
Hardware's Conference Room - Get into it
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