1.7GHz P4 spanks 1.33GHz Athlon in Quake 3

The splendidly-named Spencer T. Kittelson reckons that standards are slipping at your runaway Reg. Seems we've been a little unkind to the Athlon:

[Your article] should contain the subheading "But gets beaten in virtually everything else". That would help cancel out the slant.

I've read all the reports, particularly the Tech-report piece. If you're doing large matrix LINPACK or are a Quakehead then go for the P4. Otherwise, use the Athlon.

A little truth in reporting would go a long way and The Reg has been slipping of late...

Hmmm. David M. Pender wants to discuss this matter further. All our base still are belong to Intel, apparently:

I find it troubling that you title an article "1.7 GHz P4 Spanks 1.33GHz Athlon in Quake 3" for several reasons, and please correct me if I go wrong here...

You make this claim in the title of the article and then go on to say "Overall, the Athlon 1.33 GHz is slightly faster in most legacy benchmarks."

Don't you see the irony in that? I should think that the P4 at 1.7 GHz would be faster at everything, and of course, if you ask Intel, it is. Truth is, Intel's totally new P4 chip can't keep up with a slower clock and FSB in the Athlon that has been out for over a year. Don't you see what is wrong here, the big Intel media wheel is turning and you guys are rolling right along with it. Price and performance are all that matter anymore, both of which AMD wins.

You can't by a processor from Intel that compares to the Athlon. Sure, in some benchmarks the P4 edges out the slower, older Athlon - in some!!! It should be all if this chip from Intel is so great. More than likely, if you look at it, most of the benchmarks that the P4 edges (and I use "edges" on purpose meaning "barely beats") out the Athlon are optimized for the Intel instruction sets. I guess no one sees the logic behind the following...

1. Athlon and Pentium III are released
a. Athlon beats Pentium III hands down at pretty much everything
i. Athlon is cheaper, cooler, and available (remember the great Intel chip shortage)
ii. Intel and AMD pass the speed crown back and forth
iii. AMD stock soars (I was happy about this one as I owned a few shares, and still do)

2. Pentium 4 released at 1.7 GHz, Athlon still going strong
a. "Overall, the Athlon 1.33 GHz is slightly faster in most legacy benchmarks." to use your line again comparing to a 1.7 GHz P4
i. Athlon is cheaper, cooler and more STABLE!!!
ii. Gobble, gobble gobble - no, that is not an American Thanksgiving turkey, but the sound of AMD gaining market share!!!

Thanks, Dave. Nice to get the objective viewpoint from an AMD shareholder.

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