Jim, Here is an article you should read.
A couple of quotes from the article first and then the complete article follows.
"The Pentium II takes a few knocks from its AMD K6-2 rival in productivity, but the chip is king of the hill when it comes to multimedia applications. The PII easily beat the K6-2, even with the 3DNow! drivers, in our Quake II test, for example. The end user may pay a little more for a system based on this processor, but will get solid performance and security in exchange."
"But we had trouble with the 3DNow! drivers during testing, as in a previous CRW Labs K6-2 review. The 3DNow! technology is already built into the CPU, but special drivers that interface with the technology must also be present to achieve performance increases. The type and number of drivers used affect performance."
1998 CRW Labs -- Desktop Chips
techweb.com
Intel Pentium II
CPU Speed: 300MHz
Cache: 512KB on processor module
Price: $205
NOTES: Intel has been aggressive in CPU price cuts lately, and at $205 per processor, systems based on the 300MHz PII will be competitively priced at retail.
The Pentium II takes a few knocks from its AMD K6-2 rival in productivity, but the chip is king of the hill when it comes to multimedia applications. The PII easily beat the K6-2, even with the 3DNow! drivers, in our Quake II test, for example. The end user may pay a little more for a system based on this processor, but will get solid performance and security in exchange.
Generally, sales associates should sell the PII to customers who want the best possible performance, and CRW Labs would recommend the PII 300MHz to any customer without hesitation. As Intel continues to introduce faster CPUs, the 300MHz PII will drop in price.
The 300MHz PII contains 512KB of cache on the Intel Slot 1 processor module, running at half the speed of the processor. Priced about $50 more than the Celeron with cache, it delivers more than twice the cache of that CPU. The PII and Celeron also share the same processor core, with a well-developed floating-point unit. Unlike the Celeron, the PII's cache isn't integrated in the processor for faster access. The K6-2 and MII put cache on the motherboard, consistent with the Socket 7 motherboard design.
CRW Labs believes the PII has an advantage over the K6-2 because it does not rely on special drivers or software to increase performance. (3DNow! instructions will only work with the appropriate drivers and/or DirectX 6.0.)
AMD K6-2 With 3DNow! Technology
CPU Speed: 300MHz
Cache: 512KB on motherboard
Price: $153.75
NOTES: New 100MHz system bus boosts performance. 3-D technology will improve floating-point performance when widely available this fall.
The K6-2 with 3DNow! Technology is a mouthful to say, and equally tough to explain. The new CPU essentially updates the older K6 core with a faster, 100MHz system bus and 21 new instructions that increase 3-D and multimedia performance.
It's much easier to recognize the performance benefits realized by increasing the system bus from 66MHz to 100MHz. Data now travels to and from the CPU more than 30 percent faster than before. In fact, the K6-2 beat its Pentium II rival in several of our Babpco SysMark32 tests.
Without the 3DNow! technology, however, the K6-2 lags due to a weak floating-point unit. The unit handles the complex calculations necessary for 3-D and some other multimedia functions. As evidenced in our game benchmark tests, the K6-2 without 3DNow! generated about 25.6 frames per second in Quake II, compared with the Pentium II's 41.4fps and the 41.0fps of the Celeron with cache. Even the Celeron without cache beat the K6-2 in this scenario at 35.5fps. (Note: The AMD K6-2 without 3DNow! performed significantly better with Forsaken, which is not as CPU-intensive as Quake II.)
In theory, 3-DNow! should significantly increase the K6-2's floating-point performance. The technology frees up two pipes that usually process integer instructions and uses them to process floating-point instructions. In some cases, it can pass two instructions through each pipe simultaneously. This means floating-point instructions can be processed up to four times faster than a standard K-6, depending on several variables.
But we had trouble with the 3DNow! drivers during testing, as in a previous CRW Labs K6-2 review. The 3DNow! technology is already built into the CPU, but special drivers that interface with the technology must also be present to achieve performance increases. The type and number of drivers used affect performance.
Support for 3DNow! is on three levels. Microsoft's new version of DirectX 6.0, which shipped this month, will accelerate any DX 6.0 game running on a K6-2 system with 3DNow! technology Additionally, the system's graphics card should also have 3DNow!-supporting drivers. To date, drivers are available only for Nvidia's Riva128 graphics accelerator chip and the 3dfx Voodoo 2 3-D accelerator. Additional drivers from Matrox, S3 and others are expected later this year. Some games also will have 3-DNow! patches, but Quake II is the only game to date with an available patch.
Finally, some developers, such as Dreamworks Interactive, are writing games that will work directly with 3DNow! technology and not need additional drivers.
CRW Labs encountered difficulties when installing the Riva drivers and went to great lengths to get them to work properly. We started with beta drivers, then downloaded a final driver version from the Nvidia Web site.
It's best to say that it isn't a good idea to ask the average customer to install his or her own 3DNow! drivers. The drivers and patches available from Nvidia, AMD and 3dfx Web sites aren't developer-supported. Therefore, little, if any, technical support is available.
CRW Labs suggests recommending systems that ship with the appropriate drivers pre-installed. That way, the system manufacturer is responsible for making sure the drivers correctly interface with the system's components, and will also provide technical support.
On the whole, the K6-2 with 3DNow! provides improved multimedia functionality and exceptional performance when used in typical productivity scenarios, for a price 25 percent less than a comparable PII CPU. It's a great buy for value-conscious customers. Those who make games a priority should be warned that the drivers aren't yet readily available. It would be prudent to wait and see how support for the drivers shakes out this fall.
Cyrix MII
CPU Speed: 300MHz
Cache: 512KB on motherboard
Price: $98
NOTES: The MII is a solid, inexpensive CPU for productivity processing, but it has difficulty with 3-D applications.
At a price of $98 in small quantities, Cyrix's MII processor offers manufacturers an opportunity to assemble low-priced systems for basic use. CRW Labs found its performance acceptable on productivity applications, but we are concerned about this processor's ability to handle intensive multimedia functions, particularly as 3-D and full-motion video begin appearing on the Web.
If your customer is playing low-end games or using educational titles, the MII probably will be fine. Keep in mind, however, that more powerful applications due in the near future could stall this processor. You can't predict the type of software your customer will want to try a few months down the road.
Also, keep an eye on price points. We have seen MII-based systems advertised for about the same price as comparable K6-2 PCs. In such cases, the K6-2, with its 100MHz system bus, is the better buy.
The MII is not a true 300MHz component. As noted in our Speeds & Feeds chart (page 19), the processor actually runs at 234MHz, but a 64KB Level 1 cache and other architectural enhancements bring it close to 300MHz performance. CRW Labs believes relationship-building depends on being truthful with customers. It's best to explain how this processor compares with its competitors, and let your customers make an informed choice based on the facts.
Cyrix plans to extend its processor line this fall with the MXi, which updates the processor's floating-point unit and integrates 3-D acceleration onto the chip. CRW Labs will review that processor when it becomes available.
Copyright r 1998 CMP Media Inc.
You are welcome in advance, Herb |
