Wow !!!

“Intel’s Core 2 Extreme X6800 didn’t lose a single benchmark in our comparison; not a single one.” - anandtech.com

As I wrote sometime ago, I wasn’t planning to upgrade my current system, which is Athlon64 overclocked @2.9Ghz, to new Athlon X2 processor on AM2 socket. Why end up paying extra cash when I don’t see noticeable performance gain when switching, main reason being that most likely it will be hard to achieve even 2.8Ghz on dual-core X2 and would want to have the current performance from each cores when doing next major upgrade.

It seems that with Conroe Core Duo, and especially the E6600 processor, which by default runs at 2.4Ghz with 4MB shared L2 cache, can easily reach 3.6-to-4.0Ghz on air. If you think I am looking from megahertz perspective of both processors then you are wrong. The E6600 will be sold around $320-$350, and by the end of this year closer to $300 mark. With recent announcement from AMD on price drop on their current line-up, all I can expect from this price range is Athlon X2 4600+, clocked at 2.4Ghz and with doubts reaching 2.8-2.9Ghz when overclocking.

Now, even at stock speed, E6600 can actually outperform most of the time the X2 5000+, not talking about that E6600 still has around 50%+ overclocking potential left. With E6600 overclocked, it can easily outperform any top of the range desktop processors from AMD and Intel, not only the current ones but probably the new unannounced silicons in coming months. And all that for around $300.

Intel ‘Conroe’ Core 2 Duo Die

The only grudge with Intel based systems is the high cost of motherboard, which runs close to $200, while for AMD you can get a good one for around $120. Also, due to a couple of changes in voltage regulation to the Core 2 Duo core, nearly all the motherboards that have already been sold will NOT support these processors. That means you’ll need to look at a new motherboard if you want Intel’s Core 2 Duo in your system. But again, a performance analysis shows that Core Duo based system is still a better option.

What can I say. Is this the defeat for AMD, or they do have some secret weapon hidden underneath their sleeves. If so, I really hope that within next few months they will unveil it and then once again I will be looking towards AMD powered computer when going for next upgrade, which I think will do somewhere in 2007 Q1, if my budget allows.

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