Windows Performance

As this is our first major Dual-Core processor review we are going to go into depth about the real changes it makes to running Windows XP. The main difference you will notice if you jump over to a Dual-Core processor is how much quicker it becomes to multitask, running multiple windows open at the same time doesn't slow down the computer anywhere near as much as it used to do, also chopping and changing to different windows means they load up almost right away rather than taking a few seconds to load up.  One side of processor reviews that seems to go by the way side is how much difference they make when doing every day tasks like running Windows and regular programs like Office, Internet Explorer, DVD's and more. In the some tests, we put the new Dual-Core 5000+ X2 processor up against some run of the mill AMD 64-bit processors while for multitasking we went with a group of Dual-Core processors.

Windows Boot Time

As you can see from this first test, the boot time of Windows XP was dramatically increased, its also to note that all of these tests were run with the same hardware in each review machine and from a clean installation. Also of note is how much quicker the 5000+ X2 was to install Windows XP from new, it took around 10/15 minutes and thats from start to finish with all hardware up and running and at the Windows XP desktop.

Windows Boot Test (Lower is better)

CPU	Time
AMD Athlon 64 3000+	31 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 3800+, 2.4 Ghz	27 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 4000+, 2.4 Ghz	25 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+, 2.6 Ghz	18 seconds

Multitasking Test

For this multitasking test we ran Virus Scan 10 and DivX 6.1 at the same time running the same benchmark test on each machine, the FX-62 was again the winner, followed by the X2 5000+ with the Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 965 far behind all of the AMD processors.

Virus Scan 10 and DivX 6.1 Performance (Lower is better)

CPU	Time
AMD Athlon 64 FX-62	148 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+	162 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60	164 seconds
Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 965	189 seconds

Microsoft Office 2003 SP2

Microsoft Office Access- Opening a 150MB Database  (Lower is better)

CPU	Time
AMD Athlon 64 3000+	8.5 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 3800+, 2.4 Ghz	7.0 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 4000+, 2.4 Ghz	6.75 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+, 2.6 Ghz	4.75 seconds

Microsoft Office Word- Opening a 15MB Word Document (Lower is better)

CPU	Time
AMD Athlon 64 3000+	3.5 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 3800+, 2.4 Ghz	3 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 4000+, 2.4 Ghz	2.75 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+, 2.6 Ghz	1.5 seconds

Microsoft Office FrontPage- Opening a Small Webpage In Split Design Mode (Lower is better)

CPU	Time
AMD Athlon 64 3000+	1.5 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 3800+, 2.4 Ghz	1.0 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 4000+, 2.4 Ghz	1.0 seconds
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+, 2.6 Ghz	0.6 seconds

DVD Performance with Power DVD 6

There was a great deal more smoothness on our DVD test using the excellent Shaun Of The Dead UK DVD Region 2 when played back on the 5000+ processor. The transfer is excellent for that film so it was the perfect one to use on our flatscreen display. There was no lag onscreen or skipping when playing with menus and such like when using the 5000+ system, we were also able to jump between the movie playing and using Internet Explorer without any noticable lag on the DVD's part. I still am not the biggest fan of DVD playback on PC's, but the performance here was excellent, picture quality was superb too with no skipping and with the increasingly large LCD displays on offer, its not hard to see why PC DVD playback is once again on the increase. In future reviews we will be basing tests on High-Definition media rather than DVD.

DivX 6.1 Performance - 180 MB VOB File (Lower Times Are Better)