Dual Core Linux Performance: Two Penguins are Better than One

Final Thoughts

You'll notice we didn't spend a lot of time on discussing the outcome of some of our benchmarks in retrospect to their Windows counterparts. The Windows tests are not quite the same as our Linux ones in all cases, making it hard to draw accurate conclusions between operating systems. On the other hand, we have left a lot of not-so-subtle hints as to our feelings concerning performance between the two. Benchmarks like the DVD transcoding performed poorer on Linux but we noticed tighter disparity between the single core and dual core chips.

The distinctions between the AMD and Intel hardware in these benchmarks should be very apparent. At the time of this publication the prices of each processor (from RTPE) tested were as follows:

• Pentium D 840 - $558.00
• Pentium D 820 - $251.50
• Pentium 4 660 - $613.00
• Pentium 4 640 - $272.00
• Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester - $540.00
• Athlon 64 3800+ Venice - $367.00
• Athlon 64 3500+ Venice - $267.00

Some benchmarks, like the Doom3 analysis, proved excessively in AMD's favor. This also happens to be true in single core and Windows benchmarks, so it's hard to really call this a design win for AMD on just Linux. There were other instances where AMD had a running start and never looked back, like the last Neverwinter Nights benchmark on the previous page. Intel came out ahead in all three of our first benchmarks; which was certainly an interesting refresh as well.

At $540 you pay through the nose for the additional performance of the Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (paying $558 for a Pentium D 840 isn't exactly a bargain either). In our opinion, the Pentium D 820 is really an underdog in this roundup, but don't let the $252 price tag fool you; at the time we were obtaining the hardware for this analysis we had to spend an extra $50 over the cost of the OCZ memory used in the AMD system for the Corsair DDR2. Furthermore, the poor performance on Doom3 hints at something most of us already know; Athlon 64 beats the pants off Intel in games, even on Linux. If you don't plan on gaming much on Linux, the Pentium D 820 becomes a real tempting option.

Once again, we owe special thanks to Monarch Computer for rushing us the Intel motherboard used in this analysis.