If there is any company that can optimize a game engine on various processor platforms, it's Id Software. Doom 3 multiplayer testing is next.

Benchmarks with Doom 3 OpenGL Gaming Performance

Note: P4 3.46GHz EE=Gallatin Core | P4 3.73GHz=Prescott 2M Core

Finally we see the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.73GHz processor live up to its branding and give the Athlon FX-55 a real hard time for the number-one spot. It seems Doom 3 favors cache latency and then clock speed, in that order, as the 3.46GHz Extreme Edition also steps up to challenge the Athlon 64 4000+. Finally, the additional L2 cache of the P4 660 bought us only another 2fps over the P4 560 in this CPU-limited gaming test.

Benchmarks with Half-Life 2 DirectX 9 Gaming Performance

Known as "the other gaming benchmark" these days, Half-Life 2 challenges the host processor probably as much as the graphics card in our test systems. As we'll show you next, the field spreads out a bit from a performance point of view.

Note: P4 3.46GHz EE=Gallatin Core | P4 3.73GHz=Prescott 2M Core

Larger caches and higher clock speeds once again offer a modest performance gain for the new P4 architecture in Half-Life, but here we see our old friend the P4EE 3.46GHz post the best score in the Intel offering.  Regardless it's a proverbial sweep here for the Athlon 64, which once again proves itself a definitively stronger gaming CPU, clock for clock.