HP Compaq Deskpro EN 6233, Compaq Deskpro EN 6266, Compaq Deskpro EN 6300, Compaq Deskpro EN 6300A, Compaq Deskpro EN 6300C White Paper

White Paper

October 2001

Prepared by:
Workstations Division Engineering
Compaq Computer Corporatio n

Comparison of Intel Pentium III
and Pentium 4 Processor

Contents

Introduction................................. 3

Comparison of Pentium 4 and
Pen tium III A rchitecture

Benefits....................................... 3

Case for Performance.................. 5

SYSmark 2001......................... 5

3D WinBench 2000 –

Processor Test......................... 6

Summary.....................................8

Additional Micro-Architecture

Detail .......................................... 9

Pen tium III............................... 9

Pentium 4.............................. 10

Impact of DirectX 8.0.............. 12

15WD-1101A-WWEN

Performance

Abstract: This white paper summarizes key technology
adva ncements in the Intel® Pentium® 4 process or compared wit h
the previous-generation Intel Pentium III processor. Common
benchmark workloads are discussed to provide an illustration of
whic h areas of c omputing will benefit the most f rom th is new
ar c hitecture. Results of Compaq benchma rk testing, c omparing
results for both processors, are included to demonstrate the
performance gains realizable with the new processor.

Comparison of Intel Pentium III and Pentium 4 Processor Performance White Paper 2

Notice

The information in this publication is subject to change without notice and is provided “AS IS” WITHOUT
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
INFORMATION REMAINS WITH RECIPIENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL COMPAQ BE LIABLE FOR
ANY DIRECT, CONSEQUENT IA L, INCI DENT AL, SPECIAL, PUNITI VE , OR OTHER DAMAGES
WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITAT I ON, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS
PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION) , EVE N IF
COMPAQ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

The limited warran ties for Compaq products ar e exclusively set forth in th e d ocu mentati on accompanying
such products. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting a further or additional warranty.

This publication does not constitute an endorsement of the product or products that were tested. The
configuration or configurations tested or described may or may not be the only available solution. This test
is not a determination of product quality or correctness, nor does it ensure compliance with any federal,
state o r lo cal require ments.

©2001 Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P. Compaq, the Compaq logo, Evo and Deskpro are
trademarks of Compa q Information Technologies Group, L.P. in the U.S. and/or oth er countries. Intel,
Pent iu m, and Celeron ar e trademark s of Intel Corpor ation in the U.S. and/or oth er cou n tries. Micr oso ft and
Wind ows are either registered tr ademarks or tr ademarks of Microsoft Corp or ation in th e United States
and/or other countries. All other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective
companies.

Comparison of Intel Pentium III and Pentium 4 Processor Performance
White P aper prepar ed by Workstations Divisi on En gineerin g

First Edition (October 2001)
Document Number 15WD-1101A-WWEN

Comparison of Intel Pentium III and Pentium 4 Processor Performance White Paper 3

Introduction

This White Paper provides information useful in understanding the differences between the
Intel® Pentium® 4 processor and the previ ous -generation Pentium III. A dis cus s i o n is inc luded
about the architectural differences in the two processors and the performance benefits they
provide. When evaluating performance, there is no single performance test (“benchmark”) that
can completely describe the performance of a complex system like modern microprocessor or
personal computer. It is important to obtain the complete performance picture. In other words, the
system should deliver high performance across the entire spectrum of applications such as
producti vity, multimedia, 3 D a nd Inter net. Each of the se app licat io n c ategories c aries a uniqu e set
of computation and data movement characteristics; thus it is important to realize how each class
of application would benefit or not from the new architecture. It is also important to realize the
investment protection delivered, where the new architecture will provide reasonable performance
gain for current applications while providing headroom for future growth as more and more ISVs
will fully take advantage of the new a rchite c ture. W ith that in mind, it is expected that there is a
non-uniform gain in performance, as each class of current application lends itself more to the new
architecture while others do not. Using the Compaq Deskpro EN platform equipped with 1 GHz
Pentium III processor as the baseline, benchmark results of the new Compaq Evo D500 platform
equipped with the 1.7 GHz Pentium 4 processor are presented as a comparison of the two
architectures.

Comparison of Pentium 4 and Pentium III Architecture
Benefits

As Internet and digital med ia become more p ervasi v e i n modern comput ing, the Pentium 4
processor is optimized for a new level of digital audio, video, photography and 3D performance.
For corporate users, the Pentium 4 offers excellent performance with added headroom for future
applications such as

• Java technology and XML, which will be increasingly enabled in Office XP, Windows® XP
and W eb services

• Enhanced 3D rendering for business analysis, video decompression for e-learning, and peer­to-peer interaction for improved collaboration

• Secure connections with support for latest encryption technology for data transfer and e­Commerce tr ansactions.

How are these potential enhancements possible with this new processor? Let’s explore the mic ro­archit ecture enhancements in th e P entium 4 processor:

Representing a breakthrough to a new level of computing, the Pentium 4 processor is a
completel y red esig ned v ers i on of t h e earlier Intel IA32 processor architecture or Pentium III
while maintaining backward compatibility with existing applications. This means the Pentium 4
processor protects user’s current investment in existing applications while providing new
optimized instructions, registers, and data structures for future applications.

Comparison of Intel Pentium III and Pentium 4 Processor Performance White Paper 4

The Pentium 4 proces sor is optimiz ed for la rge data sets transfer and handlin g. This means th e
customer will see significantly improved performance over previous generation Pentium III
processor s in applications that handle and require larg e amount s of data. This will ap ply to all
vert ic al app lications an d many hor izontal app lic ations , such as financial analysis applic atio ns,
where handling large dat a sets is the nor m. For a limited nu mber of horizontal ap plications, such
as Microsoft Word, performance is not enhanced and can even suffer, though differences are
typically made up for by faster processor speeds enabled by the new processor architecture.
Howe ver, it should be noted that the tren d in offi ce appl ications is f or grea ter a nd great er usa ge o f
graphics. Use of graphics presupposes the existence of data-intensive graphics-generation
applications, which benefit greatly (and noticeably to the user) from Pentium 4 enhancements.
Moreover, as noted above, the trend is also to increasing use of java technology and XML in
Office XP, Windows XP and Web services. Nevertheless, in the short term, if the customer’s
need is primarily for office applications and there is a budget constraint, Pentium III may still
offer an acceptable solution. However, the customer should be aware that Compaq expects that,
in the near future, office applications will be handling much more data requiring the architectural
adva ntages the Pe ntium 4 p ossesses.

Perhaps more important for the user is the fact that higher processor speeds from Intel will only
be available in the future in the Pentium 4. The Pentium III will offer no further increases in
processor speeds. (Intel will continue to r ef resh Celero n processors , however). This is illu strated
in Figure 1, which shows the roadmap for of Intel processor technology. This means that
regardles s of the a pplication, improvements in performance can onl y be obtained b y greater
processor speed available from Intel in the Pentium 4 processor.

Figure 1: Roadmap of Intel Processor Evolution