I've looked at more benchmarks of the two processors than most. The Pentium 4 is all about bandwidth and Intel-specific optimization SSE2. On FPU work in particular it can do half the work per clock than AMD chips i.e. Sandra 2002 without SSE2. That isn't just a selective reading of an unrepresentative few benchmarks. Any site that uses FPU intensive software that isn't the latest beta finds that so.
sciencemark
COSBI and FPUmark99
[Other applications]http://www.aceshardware.com/read.jsp?id=45000285[/l]
Now games use a lot of bandwidth, and the graphics cards manufacturers work at such a pace that they can incorporate SSE2 into their drivers. But otherwise, software takes a long time to develop, and much of it is very expensive compared to the processor alone. I don't see myself replacing perfectly good software with a new version to support a specific processor. Sure, if you play FPS games and rip movies and mp3s the Pentium 4 is just fine. But if you want to get serious with developing a project or using SMP, the Athlons are the way to go now.
The common P4 review spoils balance where they:
a) concentrate on games
b) quote Sysmark 2001 from Bapco and 3DMark2001. Bapco are part of Intel, their address has always been the same. Madonion are also affiliated. Sysmark 2001 attempts to simulate multitasking by running a version of WME in the background that will not use any optimization for AMD chips.
c) use WME not patched for AMD optimization
d) use very latest applications and betas not representative of what users may own, in their desire to appear current.
There is not need to become distressed if you have a Pentium 4 and are satisfied in it. The above is a simple distillation of the facts. To deny them would be to deny all the experiences of the Pentium 4 that run in parallel with these published reviews from several sites. Processors are a tool to be judged on performance and value, they are not cybernetic freudian attachments.