This paper is concerned with the comparison of forging characteristics between forward and backward processes, through the three-dimensional finite element simulation, for the aluminum powder forging of engine pistons. Starting from the theoretical formulation of velocity and temperature fields in the sintered preform during the process, we examine the comparative distributions of relative density, effective stress and temperature as well as the variations of total forging load and total volume reduction. Through the comparative results, we find out that the forward method provides better forging characteristics than the backward method.