Intel P4 3.2Ghz Review - PAGE 1

As we discussed in our Barton 3000+ review, Intel was soon to release a 3.2Ghz Pentium 4 chip based on their new 800Mhz FSB (200Mhz core clock speed) and Springdale/Canterwood platform. Well that time is upon us now as Intel formally introduces it's latest flagship in the P4 'C' family of chips. It doesn't feel like too long has passed since the introduction of the P4 'C' family, indeed, it's only been around 2 months, but this particular release was to be expected since Intel has to capitalize on its performance lead over AMD. True, AMD's 3200+ with 400Mhz FSB (200Mhz core) has already made it's debut and is now widely available, but the consensus amongst reviewers is that the 2.2Ghz 3200+ is really not a huge step forward for AMD. AMD did indeed outmaneuvre Intel by releasing their "3.2Ghz" class chip ahead of Intel's 3.2Ghz 'C', but we think you might be a little more impressed with Intel's release than with AMD's.

AMD's 3200+

Before we go into much further detail about the 3.2Ghz Penium 4 chip, let's talk a little about the XP 3200+ from AMD. By all accounts we were very excited to see AMD trading blow for blow against Intel's technological advancements. Dual Channel DDR (thanks to Nforce2 and the upcoming Sis748), larger 512KB cache (introduced in the 3000+ Barton), and finally, a 200Mhz core powering the 3200+ put the flagship processors from each of Intel and AMD on pretty equal "features" footing. We haven't yet gotten a 3200+ setup in our lab for formal testing, but we certainly did follow closely the reviews published by the select sites that had gotten review samples from AMD. Perhaps the most significant telltale is the fact that the 3000+ XP chip we reviewed had a variety of performance strengths and weaknesses vis-a-vis the P4 2.8 and 3.0Ghz chips... the 3000+ itself might have more aptly been named the 2800+ 'C', and the 3200+, some argue, might be more suitably called a 3000+.

While the 3200+ does indeed sport the larger 512KB cache and a 200Mhz core, it runs at only 2.2Ghz (200Mhz x 11). Intel has had it's share of confusing technologies that yield less than impressive results, but many of you must wonder how the 2.2Ghz and 2.17Ghz 3200+ and 3000+ chips fare against Intel's latest heavywaight with it's true 3.2Ghz rating. We hope to answer at least part of that question today.