System setup and notes
| System | AMD AM2 system | Intel LGA775 system |
|---|---|---|
| Processors | AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (3.0GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, AM2) AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ (2.8GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, AM2) AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ (2.6GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, AM2) |
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (2.67GHz, 8MiB L2 cache, LGA775, quad-core) Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz, 4MiB L2 cache, LGA775) Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.67GHz, 4MiB L2 cache, LGA775) Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.40GHz, 4MiB L2 cache, LGA775) Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, LGA775) |
| Motherboard | ASUS M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition (nForce 590 SLI) | Intel D975XBX2 Bad Axe 2 rev. 303 (Intel i975X) |
| Memory | 2GiB (2 x 1024) Patriot PC8000 XBLK | 2GiB (2 x 1024) Corsair PC8500 |
| Memory timings and speed | 4-4-4-12 @ 800MHz (PC6400) | |
| Graphics card(s) | ASUS/Sapphire Radeon X1900 XTX 512MiB | |
| Disk drive(s) | Seagate 160GB SATAII (ST3160812AS) | Optical drive(s) | Sony DW-Q30A |
| BIOS revision | 0109 (01/02/07) | 14/08/06 |
| Mainboard software | NVIDIA nForce Package 9.34 | Intel Inf 8.0.1.1002 |
| Graphics driver | CATALYST 6.10 BETA | Operating System | Windows XP Pro SP2 32-bit | PSU | Dark Power PRO 430W | OCZ PowerStream 520W | Monitor | Dell 2405FPW |
Here's what we evaluated the processors with:
Software
| Benchmarks |
Sandra Lite 2k7 SP1 Build 2007.8.10.105 Float Buffered Memory Bandwidth ScienceMark 2.0 32-bit Build 21MAR05 Memory Latency CPU-Z v1.38 HEXUS Pifast HEXUS Cryptography LAME multi-threaded benchmark - 701.5MB file - encoded into 128kbps stereo. DivX 6.4 (existing DV-avi source-file, Home-theatre profile, 1700Kbps, Insane-quality video, 40Kbps, Stereo, 16KHz Audio) Cinebench 2003 R9.5 POV-Ray 32-bit 3.7.0 BETA 16 - Use internal benchmark mode - biscuit.pov Far Cry 1.33 (low-end script (1024x768) Quake 4 1.30 SMP Support Enabled - low-end script (1024x768) - demo001 recorded by HEXUS Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory 1.05 (low-end script (1024x768) |
|---|
Pricing thoughts
| Processor | AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ | AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ | AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 | Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 | Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 | Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 | Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing as at 20/01/07 | £300 | £200 | £150 | £630 | £615 | £330 | £200 | £150 |
The meaningful comparison to look out for is the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ against Intel's Core 2 Duo E6700. The Intel CPU is priced around £30 higher and, taking similar pricing into account, it will be interesting to see how the X2 6000+ performs.
Other related comparisons include the Athlon 64 X2 5600+ vs. Core 2 Duo E6600 and 5200+ vs E6400.
We've included the quad-core Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 and dual-core Core 2 Extreme X6800 processors for comparative reference only. Their £600+ pricing is double the X2 6000's and, as such, they appeal to a niche market.
We've not included the results from our Quad-FX testing, however. Our sample box was built by AMD and featured a BIOS that was some way from final. Consequently, results obtained from that testing may not be indicative of current performance. Quad-FX, really, is a work in progress and technology showcase for AMD.
