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A new era in computing has begun, and its first example is the new Intel dual core Pentium Processor Extreme Edition 840. The chip arrived here a few days ago inside a new Dell Precision 380 workstation, and we immediately began testing it using both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows XP. It is an astonishing performer, especially in its 64-bit trim. Do dual core processors really act like two processors in one? Jaws dropped as we realized that the Intel Pentium 3.2GHz EE 840 processor, formally called Smithfield, was the fastest single processor ever seen around these parts.
Before we get to the tantalizing details of the outstanding performance exhibited by this new dual-core processor, let?s first take a look at this Dell Precision 380 workstation. The most obvious enhancement is in its metal case design. It?s a significant improvement over its plastic predecessor, and Dell has abandoned its unusual clamshell technique of opening the case, where the uninitiated were probably having an extremely difficult time. Now, it?s almost as easy to open as a Mac, with a single latch affording you immediate entry. Other niceties such as the two USB 2.0 ports on the front (and five in the rear), joined by jacks for a microphone and speakers, give you instant access to often-needed ports. Overall, this new design constitutes a great new form factor that looks good and offers improved functionality over its predecessor.
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| Undo the latch at the back... |
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| And the door opens right up. Hey, is this a Mac? |
Besides that hot new processor whose performance we'll be describing in just a moment, our test machine included 2GB of DDR2 533MHz RAM, a fiery ATI PCI Express FireGL v3100 workstation-class graphics card, and a 2x80GB (each at 10,000 RPM) SATA array set for RAID 0. We also like the Sound Blaster Audigy II sound card with FireWire on board, although it would be nice if some forward-thinking PC manufacturer would start offering on-board FireWire 800 one of these days. How hard can that be? Another big plus with this new Precision workstation is its ultra-quiet case fan system, which has become a trademark of Dell, a company which has a lab set up specifically to discover ways to make computers quieter. This fan does get a bit louder as its processor is worked harder, but still, it?s the quietest fan we?ve heard so far. The machine is every bit up to the high standard that we?ve seen from Dell Precision workstations in years past.
Sure, this is another fine workstation, but sorry, Dell, your new case design doesn?t excite us anywhere near as much as this new technology under the hood. Yes, the big news is inside, where the new 3.2GHz dual core Pentium processor Extreme Edition (abbreviated as EE) 840 holds court. So what does ?dual core? mean, anyway? It?s like a car with two engines in it, both stuffed into the same engine compartment, both using their own gears and drive shafts, but guzzling gas from the same tank. That's right, it?s two chips in one, and they?re put together in an extremely efficient way. If you want to know the technical nuts and bolts of this, there are plenty of explanations of it all over the Web, but suffice to say when running software optimized for multithreading, it?s significantly faster than a single core processor with the same clock speed. It?s the way of the future. Sure, this first example of the dual core processor is only running at 3.2 GHz, but in addition to its dual core characteristic it also features hyperthreading. So, when you take a look at the task manager?s performance tab (see graphic below), the computer thinks there are four processors running. It reminds me of a car with an engine turning each wheel.
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| Are there four processors inside this beast? Well, no, there's just one, but don't tell Windows XP we said that. |
Along with this new processor is a new chipset as well, the Intel 955X Express chipset that allows the computer to pack (and actually use) 8GB of RAM inside instead of the previous limit of 4GB. On each processing unit in the Extreme Edition 840 chip, there is 1 MB of L2 cache, which is a slight trade-off compared to the 2MB of L2 cache in the Pentium Extreme Edition 3.72GHz single core chip. That didn?t seem to bother it in the speed department, though. To give you some perspective here, this processor represents a leap in technology, with 230 million transistors, versus 169 million on the P4 Extreme Edition 3.73 GHz chip. By comparison, the first Pentium chip ran at 60 MHz and had just 3.1 million transistors. In addition to all of this circuitry, the system also features EM64T technology, which allows users to take advantage of a 64-bit operating system such as Windows XP x64 while at the same time running 32-bit applications even faster than its predecessor. That?s a neat trick.
On paper, it all looks good. Let?s see what happens on the test bench. The computer arrived pre-loaded with Windows XP Professional SP2, the garden-variety 32-bit version, and first we loaded up Adobe After Effects along with our suite of benchmarks and took a look at its performance compared to a Dell dual Xeon 3.6 box that until now was the fastest computer we?ve tested. After running all the benchmarks on 32-bit Windows XP, the old dual Xeon 3.6 was still king of the hill.
That all changed as soon as we installed a copy of the brand-new Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. It was as if the new chip sprung to life as it recognized an old friend, with the 64-bit operating system offering a wide-open field in which this thoroughbred could run. Even though it?s technically a single processor, this new chip blew by the dual processor Xeon in many of our After Effects benchmarks. Take a look at the table below and you?ll see that the old dual Xeon was only able to beat our dual core monster on two of the benchmarks. Also, Mac fans, you might not want to notice that this single processor soundly whipped the Mac as well.
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