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Lasereth · 09-23-2003, 11:51 AM

As you may or may not know, the Athlon 64 was debuted today around the world. In nearly every single benchmark application and gaming benchmark ran, the Athlon 64 (and it's more powerful counter-part, the Athlon 64 FX) simply slaughetered everything Intel has to offer, including it's 800 MHz FSB Hyper-Threading 3.2 GHz Pentium 4's. Well, I noticed something a bit fishy about all of the hype surrounding the Athlon 64's a while back. Intel was doing absolutely nothing to eliminate AMD as a competitor.

Scores were being released that suggested AMD would actually become the CPU leader in the world, and Intel simply kept increasing the clock speed.

Lo and behold my friends, Intel did indeed have something up their sleeves: say hello to the Pentium 4 EE, Intel's answer to the Athlon 64. The P4 EE was shipped (in some cases driven) to benchmarking companies as late as TODAY in order to compete with the Athlon 64 FX. Guess what? Intel has nearly ruined AMD's Athlon 64 launch. Benchmarkers around the world have now reported that the 3.2 GHz EE and the 3.6 GHz EE Pentium 4's (each of these "EE" Pentium 4's are simply Xeons with increased on-board cache, usually by about 2 MB) are up-to-par with the Athlon 64 FX and actually beating it in about 60% of benchmark tests.

Nearly every review/benchmark I've read up today has mentioned that Intel was basically being really shitty/sneaky about the EE. It was released today, when the Athlon 64 was supposed to make its monumental launch. AMD's 64-bit launch will NOT go as planned now, due to the ass-raping it received by the Pentium 4 EE.

Don't get me wrong, the Athlon 64 FX's are still kicking major ass (the 2.0 GHz Athlon FX beats out every single non-EE Pentium 4 Intel has to offer, even the 3.2 GHz), but the release of the EE definitely took some of the fame from AMD. Call it sneaky, bastardly, or even cowardly, but Intel knew they had to do something against the Athlon FX monstrosity. And they did, unfortunately.

Tom's Hardware and many other respectable hardware reviewing sites have reviewed the Athlon 64 FX vs. the Pentium 4 EE, and every single one of them are showing the same thing: Athlon 64 FX pulls ahead in many games and a few benchmark programs, but overall, the EE is still beating ass.

This throws a major kink in AMD's plans. It really, really pisses me off that Intel released the EE today, when AMD was about to have the well-deserved honor of CPU leader. On top of that, this isn't even a new chip by Intel. It's a 3.2-3.6 GHz Xeon with more L cache. This move was made simply to ruin AMD's launch. Hell, I'll stay with AMD through this simply because Intel has pissed me off so bad.

It isn't over yet, however. The SLOWEST Intel Pentium 4 EE at 3.2 GHz cost $850.00 with the fastest one going WELL over $1,000 simply for the CPU. The absolute best Athlon 64 FX right now is $750.00. On top of that, AMD plans to release the Athlon 64 FX 53 soon which will come with a standard clock speed of 2.4 GHz.

AMD fans' day of glory may have been extinguished by a cheap but marketable move by Intel, but at least AMD has proven that it can and WILL keep up with the competition, especially in the performance/price ratio.

-Lasereth

09-23-2003, 11:51 AM	#1 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	Intel Pentium 4 EE vs Athlon 64/FX! As you may or may not know, the Athlon 64 was debuted today around the world. In nearly every single benchmark application and gaming benchmark ran, the Athlon 64 (and it's more powerful counter-part, the Athlon 64 FX) simply slaughetered everything Intel has to offer, including it's 800 MHz FSB Hyper-Threading 3.2 GHz Pentium 4's. Well, I noticed something a bit fishy about all of the hype surrounding the Athlon 64's a while back. Intel was doing absolutely nothing to eliminate AMD as a competitor. Scores were being released that suggested AMD would actually become the CPU leader in the world, and Intel simply kept increasing the clock speed. Lo and behold my friends, Intel did indeed have something up their sleeves: say hello to the Pentium 4 EE, Intel's answer to the Athlon 64. The P4 EE was shipped (in some cases driven) to benchmarking companies as late as TODAY in order to compete with the Athlon 64 FX. Guess what? Intel has nearly ruined AMD's Athlon 64 launch. Benchmarkers around the world have now reported that the 3.2 GHz EE and the 3.6 GHz EE Pentium 4's (each of these "EE" Pentium 4's are simply Xeons with increased on-board cache, usually by about 2 MB) are up-to-par with the Athlon 64 FX and actually beating it in about 60% of benchmark tests. Nearly every review/benchmark I've read up today has mentioned that Intel was basically being really shitty/sneaky about the EE. It was released today, when the Athlon 64 was supposed to make its monumental launch. AMD's 64-bit launch will NOT go as planned now, due to the ass-raping it received by the Pentium 4 EE. Don't get me wrong, the Athlon 64 FX's are still kicking major ass (the 2.0 GHz Athlon FX beats out every single non-EE Pentium 4 Intel has to offer, even the 3.2 GHz), but the release of the EE definitely took some of the fame from AMD. Call it sneaky, bastardly, or even cowardly, but Intel knew they had to do something against the Athlon FX monstrosity. And they did, unfortunately. Tom's Hardware and many other respectable hardware reviewing sites have reviewed the Athlon 64 FX vs. the Pentium 4 EE, and every single one of them are showing the same thing: Athlon 64 FX pulls ahead in many games and a few benchmark programs, but overall, the EE is still beating ass. This throws a major kink in AMD's plans. It really, really pisses me off that Intel released the EE today, when AMD was about to have the well-deserved honor of CPU leader. On top of that, this isn't even a new chip by Intel. It's a 3.2-3.6 GHz Xeon with more L cache. This move was made simply to ruin AMD's launch. Hell, I'll stay with AMD through this simply because Intel has pissed me off so bad. It isn't over yet, however. The SLOWEST Intel Pentium 4 EE at 3.2 GHz cost $850.00 with the fastest one going WELL over $1,000 simply for the CPU. The absolute best Athlon 64 FX right now is $750.00. On top of that, AMD plans to release the Athlon 64 FX 53 soon which will come with a standard clock speed of 2.4 GHz. AMD fans' day of glory may have been extinguished by a cheap but marketable move by Intel, but at least AMD has proven that it can and WILL keep up with the competition, especially in the performance/price ratio. -Lasereth __________________ "A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert