CPU History Tour (2001 - 2003)

Published: 24th October 2020 (last update 24th October 2020 )

Third part of the CPU benchmark project. This time starting with early Pentium 4 and Athlon XP Palomino and following the CPU development up to the end of 2003 when Athlon 64 launched.

Introduction

This article is the third part of huge benchmark project. The purpose of this project is to follow development of x86 processors starting in year 1995 and up to present time. The whole project is too big to fit into single article, so there will be multiple parts, each of them with slightly adjusted methodology but still similar enough to compare processors from one part to another. The point is to measure performance of software newer than tested HW, to determine how future-proof were the selected architectures and processors based on them. You can find popular benchmarks, games and real-life applications tested here.

Tested Processors

	Athlon XP 1600+	2 × Athlon XP 1600+	Athlon XP 2000+ (KT133A)	Athlon XP 2000+ (KT266A)	Athlon XP 2000+ (SiS 745)	Athlon XP 2000+ (NF2)	Athlon XP 2200+	Athlon XP 2600+	Athlon XP 2800+
Socket	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 462
Cores / Threads	1/1	2/2	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
Frequency	1400 MHz	1400 MHz	1666 MHz	1666 MHz	1666 MHz	1666 MHz	1800 MHz	2083 MHz	2083 MHz
Multiplier	10.5×	10.5×	12.5×	12.5×	12.5×	12.5×	13.5×	12.5×	12.5×
Bus Speed	266 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 64-bit	333 MHz / 64-bit	333 MHz / 64-bit
Bus Type	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR
FSB Bandwidth	2133 MB/s	2133 MB/s	2133 MB/s	2133 MB/s	2133 MB/s	2133 MB/s	2133 MB/s	2666 MB/s	2666 MB/s
Architecture	K7	K7	K7	K7	K7	K7	K7	K7	K7
Code Name	Palomino	Palomino	Palomino	Palomino	Palomino	Palomino	Thoroughbred	Thoroughbred	Barton
Technology	180 nm	180 nm	180 nm	180 nm	180 nm	180 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm
Transistor Count	37.5 mil.	2 × 37.5 mil.	37.5 mil.	37.5 mil.	37.5 mil.	37.5 mil.	37.2 mil.	37.2 mil.	54.3 mil.
Die Size	128 mm²	2 × 128 mm²	128 mm²	128 mm²	128 mm²	128 mm²	85 mm²	85 mm²	101 mm²
Transistor Density	0.29 M / mm²	0.29 M / mm²	0.29 M / mm²	0.29 M / mm²	0.29 M / mm²	0.29 M / mm²	0.44 M / mm²	0.44 M / mm²	0.54 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	64 / 64 kB	2 × 64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB
L2 Cache	256 kB	2 × 256 kB	256 kB	256 kB	256 kB	256 kB	256 kB	256 kB	512 kB
L2 Type / Speed	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full
RAM Capacity	1024 MB	1024 MB	512/1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB
RAM Type	DDR	DDR	SDRAM	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR
RAM Speed	266 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 64-bit	133 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	333 MHz / 128-bit	333 MHz / 128-bit
RAM Bandwidth	2133 MB/s	2133 MB/s	1066 MB/s	2133 MB/s	2133 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	5333 MB/s	5333 MB/s
Motherboard	Biostar M7VIW-D	Tyan Tiger MPX	ENMIC 8TTX+	Biostar M7VIW-D	ECS K7S6A	Abit NF7	Abit NF7	Abit NF7	Abit NF7
Chipset	VIA KT266A	AMD-760MPX	VIA KT133A	VIA KT266A	SiS 745	Nvidia nForce2	Nvidia nForce2	Nvidia nForce2	Nvidia nForce2
Voltage	1.75 V	1.75 V	1.75 V	1.75 V	1.75 V	1.75 V	1.6 V	1.65 V	1.65 V
TDP	63 W	2 × 63 W	70 W	70 W	70 W	70 W	63 W	68 W	68 W
Launch Date	09.10.2001	09.10.2001	07.01.2002	07.01.2002	07.01.2002	07.01.2002	10.06.2002	21.08.2002	10.02.2003
Launch Price	$160	$320	$339	$339	$339	$339	$241	$297	$375

	Athlon XP 3000+	Athlon XP-M OC (KT133A)	Athlon XP-M OC (NF2)	Opteron 242 (K8T800)	Opteron 242 (nForce)	2 × Opteron 242	Opteron 244	Athlon 64 FX-51	Athlon 64 3200+
Socket	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 940	Socket 940	Socket 940	Socket 940	Socket 940	Socket 754
Cores / Threads	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	2/2	1/1	1/1	1/1
Frequency	2166 MHz	2400 MHz	2400 MHz	1600 MHz	1600 MHz	1600 MHz	1800 MHz	2200 MHz	2000 MHz
Multiplier	13×	18×	10×	8×	8×	8×	9×	11×	10×
Bus Speed	333 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 64-bit	480 MHz / 64-bit	2000 MHz / 32-bit	2000 MHz / 32-bit	2000 MHz / 32-bit	2000 MHz / 32-bit	2000 MHz / 32-bit	1600 MHz / 32-bit
Bus Type	DDR	DDR	DDR	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT
FSB Bandwidth	2666 MB/s	2133 MB/s	3840 MB/s	8000 MB/s	8000 MB/s	8000 MB/s	8000 MB/s	8000 MB/s	6400 MB/s
Architecture	K7	K7	K7	K8	K8	K8	K8	K8	K8
Code Name	Barton	Barton	Barton	SledgeHammer	SledgeHammer	SledgeHammer	SledgeHammer	SledgeHammer	ClawHammer
Technology	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm
Transistor Count	54.3 mil.	54.3 mil.	54.3 mil.	105.9 mil.	105.9 mil.	2 × 105.9 mil.	105.9 mil.	105.9 mil.	105.9 mil.
Die Size	101 mm²	101 mm²	101 mm²	193 mm²	193 mm²	2 × 193 mm²	193 mm²	193 mm²	193 mm²
Transistor Density	0.54 M / mm²	0.54 M / mm²	0.54 M / mm²	0.55 M / mm²	0.55 M / mm²	0.55 M / mm²	0.55 M / mm²	0.55 M / mm²	0.55 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	2 × 64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB
L2 Cache	512 kB	512 kB	512 kB	1024 kB	1024 kB	2 × 1024 kB	1024 kB	1024 kB	1024 kB
L2 Type / Speed	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full
RAM Capacity	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB
RAM Type	DDR	DDR	DDR	ECC Reg. DDR	ECC Reg. DDR	ECC Reg. DDR	ECC Reg. DDR	ECC Reg. DDR	DDR
RAM Speed	333 MHz / 128-bit	133 MHz / 64-bit	480 MHz / 128-bit	333 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit
RAM Bandwidth	5333 MB/s	1066 MB/s	7680 MB/s	5333 MB/s	6400 MB/s	6400 MB/s	6400 MB/s	6400 MB/s	3200 MB/s
Motherboard	Abit NF7	ENMIC 8TTX+	Abit NF7	MSI K8T Master2	MSI K8N Master2	MSI K8N Master2	MSI K8N Master2	MSI K8N Master2	Asus K8V
Chipset	Nvidia nForce2	VIA KT133A	Nvidia nForce2	VIA K8T800 Pro	Nvidia nForce Pro	Nvidia nForce Pro	Nvidia nForce Pro	Nvidia nForce Pro	VIA K8T800
Voltage	1.65 V	1.8 V	1.8 V	1.5 V	1.5 V	1.5 V	1.5 V	1.5 V	1.5 V
TDP	74 W	100 W*	100 W*	85 W	85 W	2 × 85 W	85 W	89 W	89 W
Launch Date	10.02.2003	2003	2003	22.04.2003	22.04.2003	22.04.2003	22.04.2003	23.09.2003	23.09.2003
Launch Price	$588	-	-	$690	$690	$1380	$794	$733	$417

	Duron 1400	Duron 1800	Pentium III-S 1400	Pentium M 1.4	Pentium M 1.4 OC	Pentium 4 1.5	Pentium 4 2.0	Pentium 4 1.6A	Pentium 4 2.0A
Socket	Socket 462	Socket 462	Socket 370	Socket 479	Socket 479	Socket 478	Socket 478	Socket 478	Socket 478
Cores / Threads	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
Frequency	1400 MHz	1800 MHz	1400 MHz	1400 MHz	1866 MHz	1500 MHz	2000 MHz	1600 MHz	2000 MHz
Multiplier	10.5×	13.5×	10.5×	14×	14×	15×	20×	16×	20×
Bus Speed	266 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 64-bit	133 MHz / 64-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit	533 MHz / 64-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit
Bus Type	DDR	DDR	SDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR
FSB Bandwidth	2133 MB/s	2133 MB/s	1066 MB/s	3200 MB/s	4266 MB/s	3200 MB/s	3200 MB/s	3200 MB/s	3200 MB/s
Architecture	K7	K7	P6	P6	P6	NetBurst	NetBurst	NetBurst	NetBurst
Code Name	Applebred	Applebred	Tualatin	Banias	Banias	Willamette	Willamette	Northwood	Northwood
Technology	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	180 nm	180 nm	130 nm	130 nm
Transistor Count	37.2 mil.	37.2 mil.	44 mil.	77 mil.	77 mil.	42 mil.	42 mil.	55 mil.	55 mil.
Die Size	85 mm²	85 mm²	80 mm²	83 mm²	83 mm²	217 mm²	217 mm²	146 mm²	146 mm²
Transistor Density	0.44 M / mm²	0.44 M / mm²	0.55 M / mm²	0.93 M / mm²	0.93 M / mm²	0.19 M / mm²	0.19 M / mm²	0.38 M / mm²	0.38 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	16 / 16 kB	32 / 32 kB	32 / 32 kB	12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB
L2 Cache	64 kB	64 kB	512 kB	1024 kB	1024 kB	256 kB	256 kB	512 kB	512 kB
L2 Type / Speed	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full
RAM Capacity	1024 MB	1024 MB	512 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB
RAM Type	DDR	DDR	SDRAM	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR
RAM Speed	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	133 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	333 MHz / 64-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit
RAM Bandwidth	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	1066 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	2666 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s
Motherboard	Abit NF7	Abit NF7	Asus TUSL2	Asus P4P800	Asus P4P800	ECS P4S5A DX+	Asus P4P800	Asus P4P800	Asus P4P800
Chipset	Nvidia nForce2	Nvidia nForce2	Intel i815EP	Intel i865PE	Intel i865PE	SiS 645DX	Intel i865PE	Intel i865PE	Intel i865PE
Voltage	1.5 V	1.5 V	1.45 V	1.5 V	1.55 V	1.7 V	1.75 V	1.5 V	1.5 V
TDP	57 W	57 W	32 W	22 W	28 W*	58 W	75 W	47 W	54 W
Launch Date	21.08.2003	21.08.2003	08.01.2002	12.03.2003	12.03.2003	27.08.2001	27.08.2001	07.01.2002	07.01.2002
Launch Price	-	-	-	$377	$377	$133	$562	$150	$364

	Pentium 4 2.5	Pentium 4 3.06 HT	Pentium 4 2.6 HT	Pentium 4 3.0	Pentium 4 3.0 HT	Xeon 2.4B	2 × Xeon 2.4B	Xeon 3.2 (2 MB L3)	Celeron 1300
Socket	Socket 478	Socket 478	Socket 478	Socket 478	Socket 478	Socket 604	Socket 604	Socket 604	Socket 370
Cores / Threads	1/1	1/2	1/2	1/1	1/2	1/2	2/4	1/2	1/1
Frequency	2500 MHz	3066 MHz	2600 MHz	3000 MHz	3000 MHz	2400 MHz	2400 MHz	3200 MHz	1300 MHz
Multiplier	25×	23×	13×	15×	15×	18×	18×	24×	13×
Bus Speed	400 MHz / 64-bit	533 MHz / 64-bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	533 MHz / 64-bit	533 MHz / 64-bit	533 MHz / 64-bit	100 MHz / 64-bit
Bus Type	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	SDR
FSB Bandwidth	3200 MB/s	4266 MB/s	6400 MB/s	6400 MB/s	6400 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	800 MB/s
Architecture	NetBurst	NetBurst	NetBurst	NetBurst	NetBurst	NetBurst	NetBurst	NetBurst	P6
Code Name	Northwood	Northwood	Northwood	Northwood	Northwood	Prestonia	Prestonia	Gallatin	Tualatin
Technology	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm	130 nm
Transistor Count	55 mil.	55 mil.	55 mil.	55 mil.	55 mil.	55 mil.	2 × 55 mil.	169 mil.	44 mil.
Die Size	131 mm²	131 mm²	131 mm²	131 mm²	131 mm²	131 mm²	2 × 131 mm²	237 mm²	80 mm²
Transistor Density	0.42 M / mm²	0.42 M / mm²	0.42 M / mm²	0.42 M / mm²	0.42 M / mm²	0.42 M / mm²	0.42 M / mm²	0.71 M / mm²	0.55 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB	2 × 12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB	16 / 16 kB
L2 Cache	512 kB	512 kB	512 kB	512 kB	512 kB	512 kB	2 × 512 kB	512 kB	256 kB
L2 Type / Speed	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full
RAM Capacity	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	512 MB
RAM Type	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	SDRAM
RAM Speed	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	100 MHz / 64-bit
RAM Bandwidth	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	6400 MB/s	6400 MB/s	6400 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	800 MB/s
Motherboard	Asus P4P800	Asus P4P800	Asus P4P800	Asus P4P800	Asus P4P800	Asus PC-DL	Asus PC-DL	Asus PCH-DL	Asus TUSL2
Chipset	Intel i865PE	Intel i865PE	Intel i865PE	Intel i865PE	Intel i865PE	Intel i875P	Intel i875P	Intel i875P	Intel i815EP
Voltage	1.525 V	1.55 V	1.525 V	1.5 V	1.5 V	1.5 V	1.5 V	1.525 V	1.5 V
TDP	61 W	82 W	69 W	82 W	82 W	65 W	2 × 65 W	92 W	33 W
Launch Date	26.08.2002	14.11.2002	21.05.2003	21.04.2003	21.04.2003	18.11.2002	18.11.2002	Q1 / 2004	04.01.2002
Launch Price	-	$637	$218	$417	$417	$234	$468	-	$118

	Celeron 1.7	Celeron 2.6	Atom 230	C7-D 1500
Socket	Socket 478	Socket 478	BGA	BGA
Cores / Threads	1/1	1/1	1/2	1/1
Frequency	1700 MHz	2600 MHz	1600 MHz	1500 MHz
Multiplier	17×	26×	12×	15×
Bus Speed	400 MHz / 64-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit	533 MHz / 64-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit
Bus Type	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR
FSB Bandwidth	3200 MB/s	3200 MB/s	4266 MB/s	3200 MB/s
Architecture	NetBurst	NetBurst	Atom	Centaur
Code Name	Willamette	Northwood	Diamondville	Esther
Technology	180 nm	130 nm	45 nm	90 nm
Transistor Count	42 mil.	55 mil.	47 mil.	26 mil.
Die Size	217 mm²	131 mm²	26 mm²	32 mm²
Transistor Density	0.19 M / mm²	0.42 M / mm²	1.81 M / mm²	0.81 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	12 / 8 kB	12 / 8 kB	32 / 24 kB	64 / 64 kB
L2 Cache	128 kB	128 kB	512 kB	128 kB
L2 Type / Speed	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full	on-die / full
RAM Capacity	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB
RAM Type	DDR	DDR	DDR2	DDR2
RAM Speed	266 MHz / 128-bit	266 MHz / 128-bit	533 MHz / 64-bit	533 MHz / 64-bit
RAM Bandwidth	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s	4266 MB/s
Motherboard	Asus P4P800	Asus P4P800	Gigabyte GC-230D	MSI CN700T
Chipset	Intel i865PE	Intel i865PE	Intel i945GC	VIA CN700
Voltage	1.75 V	1.5 V	1.1 V	1 V
TDP	64 W	62 W	4 W	15 W
Launch Date	15.05.2002	25.06.2003	03.06.2008	13.09.2006
Launch Price	$83	$103	$29	-

Note: values marked with * are estimated. Official information is either unavailable or these are overclocked units.