Dual Core Linux Performance: Two Penguins are Better than One
by Kristopher Kubicki on July 1, 2005 5:55 AM EST- Posted in
- Linux
Final Thoughts
You'll notice we didn't spend a lot of time on discussing the outcome of some of our benchmarks in retrospect to their Windows counterparts. The Windows tests are not quite the same as our Linux ones in all cases, making it hard to draw accurate conclusions between operating systems. On the other hand, we have left a lot of not-so-subtle hints as to our feelings concerning performance between the two. Benchmarks like the DVD transcoding performed poorer on Linux but we noticed tighter disparity between the single core and dual core chips.
The distinctions between the AMD and Intel hardware in these benchmarks should be very apparent. At the time of this publication the prices of each processor (from RTPE) tested were as follows:
- Pentium D 840 - $558.00
- Pentium D 820 - $251.50
- Pentium 4 660 - $613.00
- Pentium 4 640 - $272.00
- Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester - $540.00
- Athlon 64 3800+ Venice - $367.00
- Athlon 64 3500+ Venice - $267.00
Some benchmarks, like the Doom3 analysis, proved excessively in AMD's favor. This also happens to be true in single core and Windows benchmarks, so it's hard to really call this a design win for AMD on just Linux. There were other instances where AMD had a running start and never looked back, like the last Neverwinter Nights benchmark on the previous page. Intel came out ahead in all three of our first benchmarks; which was certainly an interesting refresh as well.
At $540 you pay through the nose for the additional performance of the Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (paying $558 for a Pentium D 840 isn't exactly a bargain either). In our opinion, the Pentium D 820 is really an underdog in this roundup, but don't let the $252 price tag fool you; at the time we were obtaining the hardware for this analysis we had to spend an extra $50 over the cost of the OCZ memory used in the AMD system for the Corsair DDR2. Furthermore, the poor performance on Doom3 hints at something most of us already know; Athlon 64 beats the pants off Intel in games, even on Linux. If you don't plan on gaming much on Linux, the Pentium D 820 becomes a real tempting option.
Once again, we owe special thanks to Monarch Computer for rushing us the Intel motherboard used in this analysis.
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StealthyOne - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
where is the pentium EE? :-)JGunther - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
#4, it's 'cause Kris is writing the article. 'nuff said. ONCE AGAIN he's skewed the benchmarks by throwing the top of the line Intel dual core chip up against the entry level AMD chip. Nice job.Also, ditto on #7 and #12... way to criticize the AMD part for its price, Kris, without mentioning that the Pentium-D requires a mobo upgrade while the X2 does not.
semo - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
#6 that's what i'm thinking.plus, i thought that with dma enabled, the cpu would not have to do too much work to burn a dvd
atlr - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
I look forward to some database server/web server tests.appu - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
Kris, great work! You might want to consideramaroK (http://amarok.kde.org) as an equivalent
of iTunes under Linux, or even gtkpod. XMMS is
better treated as an equivalent of Winamp 2.x.
Furen - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
I have one question: why was the compile job on the x2 system only run with -j1? Not trying to flame you or anything, just a wondering...bob661 - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
Kristopher Kubick,"At $558 you pay through the nose for the additional performance of the Athlon 64 X2 4200+"
That's the price for the P-D 840 not the X2 4200.
SLIM - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
I think #7 has hit the nail on the head. One other large difference in the prices besides the memory is the extra $100+ spent on a 955x motherboard or a comparable nforce4 sli intel edition (not sure if these support dual core yet though). The price difference, as has been pointed out several time before, between the intel cpus and amd cpus is just about negated once you tack on the extra cost of the MB and memory.You could definitely choose a 945 MB and save about $100 but I have yet to see the pentium D benched on that platform, and I don't think there is an sli platform for intel that's available for under $225.
GoatHerderEd - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
Ill stick with my K6-3 550 (=Furen - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
haha, what a cool article name and icon =)