Conclusion
The 3400+ is meant to be the top of the line processor in the Athlon 64 family. This new processor boasts a lot of new features, with first and foremost 64-bit support. Other features of this processor include the new Cool'n'Quiet technology and an integrated 64-bit single channel memory controller. Although not AMD's flagship processor (this title is still owned by the FX-51) it is a welcomed addition to the family.
Throughout the course of the tests, the 3400+ was able to hold its own and even surpass its closest competitors. Only with a synthetic benchmark could this processor not hold its own properly against an Intel P4 3.2GHz. However, in other tests such as Unreal Tournament 2003, the 3400+ took it by a very large margin. With a frequency disadvantage of 1GHz compared to the P4 3.2GHz, the 3400+ was still able to come out on top on most of the tests which is quite a feat on its own. However, from tests conducted here, it doesn't seem that the integrated memory controller really aids in achieving higher performances, however further testing is needed as it is hard to see by just two benchmarks.
All things considered, the 3400+ is a great performer. It does well in both real world applications as shown in the Business Winstone benchmark as well as gaming performance as clearly shown in the Unreal Tournament 2003 tests. Pricing may be an issue for those seeking extreme performance out of their Athlon 64 system. Looking at price comparisons, the Athlon 64 3400+ comes out to be about $200 to $300 more than the Athlon 64 3000+ and roughly $25 to $100 more than the Atlon 64 3200+. The larger price difference between the 3000+ and the rest of the Athlon 64 family comes from the fact that the 3000+ has only half the L2 cache than its faster more powerful brothers.
