The Test System

     As I mentioned earlier, I choose to use the ABIT KX7-333R motherboard with the 2200+. I've always had very good luck with ABIT motherboards so it's only logical that I choose ABIT to host my newest CPU. Other relevant hardware includes 512mb of generic DDR memory, Gainward Cardex 64MB GeForce3 video card, and twin 30gb Maxtor ATA133 hard drives running in RAID. The CPU cooler of choice is the Akasa Silver Mountain 2.

Benchmarks

     My software of choice for testing CPUs is SiSoft Sandra. I've been using it for years I don't see any reason to switch now. It's simple to use, has many tests, it's reliable, and best of all, you can download right off their site. I'll also throw in some other benchmarks from Mad Onion and Distributed.net. Let's begin.

     The first benchmark shown above is the Sandra CPU Arithmetic benchmark. The first bar graph is the Athlon XP 2200+. The bottom four are for comparison. The second bar graph is a dual P4 system so that's the reason for the high benchmark. The third is a single P4 2.66GHz CPU.

     The second test is the Sandra CPU Multi-Media benchmark. The first bar graph is the 2200+ and the last four are the same average scores from the same systems as shown in the first benchmark. Again, the P4 edges out the 2200+.

     The next benchmark is one that I love to use. It's the RC5 decoding client from distributed.net. It's purely a mathematical bench that will show raw CPU horsepower as it decodes lines of encrypted text. I've highlighted the benchmark score in yellow - 6,393,609 keys/sec. Of course, this is only useful to you if you are participating in the RC5 challenge.