Kryotech Cool K6-3 500

The raw FPU performance of the Cool K6-3 at 500MHz with 3DNow! enabled is quite amazing, as the K6-3 500 is within 3 fps of the Pentium III 500.  It's a shame that nVidia's drivers don't take better advantage of 3DNow! otherwise AMD would be giving Intel a nice run for their money in the OpenGL arena as well.  This is just an example of how effective, if properly implemented, 3DNow! can be performance-wise.

How does an AMD processor perform in an Intel world?  Not good at all.  The Dispatched benchmark is not really a benchmark to base your purchasing decisions on since it is as close to a 110% Intel optimized game as theoretically possible, however it does show what would happen if a K6-3 were to run alongside a Pentium III in a game that took complete advantage of SSE without even a hind thought about 3DNow!

For AMD's sake, let's hope that situations like this are limited to games that are not worth playing.