Tech
Athlon XP/2200+: rendering performance
Despite a new version 2.46 of 3D Studio Max that contains optimisations for the Pentium 4, the 2.
![zd-defaultauthor-kai-schmerer.jpg](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/3ee36fc7c9c997c5301bb60421a277bae0104c10/2014/12/04/8fd7a393-7b6a-11e4-9a74-d4ae52e95e57/zd-defaultauthor-kai-schmerer.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&frame=1&height=192&width=192)
Despite a new version 2.46 of 3D Studio Max that contains optimisations for the Pentium 4, the 2.53GHz Pentium 4 does not render simple 3D objects (Kinetix-logo) faster than an Athlon XP/2200+. However, the Pentium 4/2200 with DDR memory is 15 percent slower than the Athlon XP/2100+.
![](/i/story/20/40/001401/athlon-2200-3dsm1.gif)
![](/i/story/20/40/001401/athlon-2200-3dsm1.gif)
With complex scenes, the Pentium 4 is clearly faster than the Athlon XP. The architecture scene from the 3D Studio Max Benchmark in the SPEC-APC suite is rendered a good 15 per cent faster by the 2.53GHz Pentium 4 than the Athlon XP/2200+. Even so, the fastest AMD processor still beats the Pentium 4/2200 in this test.
![](/i/story/20/40/001401/athlon-2200-3dsm2.gif)
![](/i/story/20/40/001401/athlon-2200-3dsm2.gif)
Pentium 4 optimisation can deliver the Intel processor’s full performance potential. Rendering with the P4-optimised Lightwave 7b runs a good 66 percent faster on the 2.53GHz Pentium 4 than on the Athlon XP/2200+.
![](/i/story/20/40/001401/athlon-2200-lwv.gif)
![](/i/story/20/40/001401/athlon-2200-lwv.gif)
Although a program like Lightwave 7b can bring out the performance potential of the Pentium 4, Corel Bryce 5.01 is an example of how slow the platform can be with non-optimised applications. With this program, the Athlon XP processors set the standard: the Athlon XP/2100+ is 17 percent faster than the quickest Pentium 4, while the new Athlon XP/2200+ is 23 percent faster.
![](/i/story/20/40/001401/athlon-2200-corel.gif)
![](/i/story/20/40/001401/athlon-2200-corel.gif)