Review: AMD Athlon XP 3200+

I want to get graphical based benchmarks out of the way first so lets start with the fans favourite, 3DMark 2001SE v330.

3DMark 2001SE performance

With a Radeon 9700 Pro in each system, the XP3200+ simply can't keep pace with Intel's new consumer champion. CPU I/O bandwidth makes all the difference here, skewing the results towards the Intel side of the fence. Is 15837 3DMark's slow however?

Will this early trend carry on with Comanche 4?

Comanche 4 performance

Raw CPU I/O bandwidth makes the difference here too. Cache layouts and the fastest floating point pipeline on the planet can't keep pace with double the I/O performance of the Pentium 4 on a similar bus.

2-0 to Intel, can AMD score a late 3D half time goal with Serious Sam 2?

Serious Sam 2 performance

Faster than the outgoing XP3000+ it replaces at the top of the pile but the Sierra De Chiappas is an intimidating stadium and Intel scores again just before the break for an early 3-0 lead.