Test System

P4 2.8ghz DC
Intel 945G motherboard
2x512mb DDR2 5300

Athlon64 FX-57
Athlon64 X2 – 4800+
Athlon64 3800+
Asus A8N SLI Dlx
2x512mb Corsair DDR400 2-2-2-5

P4 3.46ghz EE – 1066fsb
Asus P5ND2 SLI Dlx
2x512mb DDR2 5300

ATI Radeon X800XL 512mb
Samsung SATA 80gb 8mb cache 7200rpm drive
Ultra 500w X-Connect PSU
Sony DWD22a dvd writer

Windows XP SP2
Catalyst 5.5 WHQL
Nforce 6.53

PCMark04
Sisoft Sandra
Picozip
Photoshop CS2
Dr DivX
WMP10
WM Encoder 9
(All software/drivers are the latest released versions - at time of press)

When beginning the review we had every intention of putting the Pentium D 820 up against the 3800+ only however there were some very interesting comparisons to be made with other, higher spec/priced CPU’s which are currently available. For this reason we have included, and will comment on the comparisons in this article. Please be aware though that you should not consider the 820 to be any direct comparison to the FX57, X2 or P4 3.46EE. Those three CPU’s are quadruple and then some in terms of pricing when compared to the Pentium D model on test. Only the 3800+ should be considered a direct comparison as it is within £50 of the Pentium D.

Previous: The Processor

Next: PcMark 04