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MacFixIt reports that it contacted Intel for comment on the recent G5 benchmark brouhaha only to be referred by the behemoth to Gartner Group analyst Martin Reynolds for the appropriate comments on the mothership's new PowerMac speed claims. And, here's what Intel's chosen respondent had to say on the subject:

"These models certainly equal Intel's advanced 875 platform and should allow Apple to go until 2005 without a major platform refresh."

Intel's 875 (ie currently their fastest northbridge product) offers comparable front-side bus speed (800MHz) and support for dual-channel DDR400 memory, as well as 8X AGP. However, Intel's solution doesn't ship with PCI-X or HyperTransport support, or anything comparable.

Although it does provide support for HyperThreading-enabled processors, a technology that makes one logical CPU perform in a similar fashion to a two processor system (kind of, maybe, sometimes — think voodoo), the company's current mainstream performance product line doesn't support real dual-processor configurations.

As "proven" on the stage at the WWDC on Monday, Intel's current dual-processor machines (ie those based on its Xeon processors and compatible chipsets) are no match for the G5.

There you have it. Who's the fastest now?

I wonder (just a little) if Mr Reynolds got a tart call from Intel marketing after MacFixIt's story was posted?