*AMD64 processors consume less power compared to Intel
( *www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2275&p=13 )
*They are very cool even at high CPU load.
*Intel offers only 36bit physical vs 40bit+ on AMD. (*Nobody* offers full 64-bit physical addressing just yet. )
* Intel does not provide a pure 64bit long mode, only something that
resembles AMD's compatible mode.
* SYSENTER vs SYSCALL
So far the situation in the market looks as follows.
Intel’s new 64bit CPUs copes better than its AMD rival with streaming data processing and multimedia files encoding. Also, it appears quite efficient for multi-threading tasks, such as 3ds max or Photoshop. The newcomer from AMD, however, proved really fast in scientific tasks and games. If we make some additional allowances, we will be able to state its leadership over the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition even in contemporary 3D games.
So, which is the fastest CPU -- AMD's Athlon 64 or Intel's Pentium 4?
The answer depends on which software you use: there is no clear winner here.
The Athlon 64 has an advantage with mainstream office and Internet applications, and 3D games. Meanwhile, the Pentium 4 can always score with optimised software -- particularly 3D and video rendering. The multitasking tests also show an advantage for Intel's Pentium 4.
The Athlon 64 has a clear advantage in terms of cost. Although AMD's and Intel's fastest chips are comparably priced, system costs are higher for Pentium 4-based PCs with DDR2 memory. The price difference between Athlon 3500+ and Pentium 4 550 systems is even larger, because the AMD chip costs very less than its Intel counterpart.
