Intel P4 2.8 GHz

W e seem to be at a threshold where processor wars are heating up. AMD just released the XP 2600+, and Intel responded by its 2.8 GHz model. There is nothing new in this core compared to the P4 2.53 GHz, except that it runs at a higher clock speed. 

Coming straight to its performance, there is sizeable improvement in all benchmarks compared to the 2.53 GHz model tested earlier. In fact, so well pronounced is the improvement that it led many to speculate that changes had been made to the core, when in fact it is just a new stepping. Hence, we see a 10% increase in CCW 2002, almost 20% in 3Dmark 2001 and so on.

This is in comparison to the P4 2.53 GHz. With the XP 2600+, a direct comparison is more difficult since that processor was running in its ideal configuration using DDR-333 memory, whereas this P4 is using PC800 RDRAM instead of the better performing PC1066 RDRAM. Even then, except for CC W and MP3 encoding, it does catch up and even beat the Athlon in some benchmarks. All tests here were done on an Asus P4T533-C motherboard with 256 MB RDRAM, GeForce2 GTS and a Samsung 7200 RPM hard drive.    

The Bottom Line: So, Intel has upped its ante again. With its 533 MHz FSB, the P4 seems to just keep improving all the time. 

Anuj Jain at PCQ Labs