System setup and notes
| System | Intel LGA775 system | AMD AM2 system |
|---|---|---|
| Processors | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 (2.93GHz, 8MiB L2 cache, LGA775, quad-core) Intel Core 2 Extreme Q6700 (2.67GHz, 8MiB L2 cache, LGA775, quad-core) Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz, 4MiB L2 cache, LGA775, dual-core) Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.67GHz, 4MiB L2 cache, LGA775, dual-core) Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, LGA775, dual-core) |
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (3.0GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, AM2, dual-core) AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ (2.8GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, AM2, dual-core) AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ (2.6GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, AM2, dual-core) |
| Motherboard | Intel D975XBX2 Bad Axe 2 rev. 303 (Intel i975X) | ASUS M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition (nForce 590 SLI) |
| Memory | 2GiB (2 x 1024) Corsair PC8500 | 2GiB (2 x 1024) Patriot PC8000 XBLK |
| Memory timings and speed | 4-4-4-12 @ 800MHz (PC6400) | |
| Graphics card(s) | Radeon X1900 XTX 512MiB | |
| Disk drive(s) | Seagate 160GB SATAII (ST3160812AS) | Optical drive(s) | Sony DW-Q30A |
| BIOS revision | 15/03/07 (BX97520J.86A.2674.2007.0315.1546) | 01/02/0 (0109) |
| Mainboard software | Intel Inf 8.0.1.1002 | NVIDIA nForce Package 9.34 |
| Graphics driver | CATALYST 6.10 BETA | Operating System | Windows XP Pro SP2 32-bit | PSU | OCZ GameXStream 700W | 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 v1.39 HEXUS Pifast 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 | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 | Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 | Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 | Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 | AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ | AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ | AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing as at 11/04/07 | £630 | ? | £615 | £315 | £150 | £155 | £115 | £110 |
Intel's quad-core CPUs currently occupy the high-end performance space and they're priced accordingly; you need some return on investing in 542m transistors, right? As a consequence and with due acknowledgement of AMD's price cutting in recent months, comparing the Core 2 Extreme QX6800 against any of AMD's desktop CPUs isn't possible on a pure price basis.
The above table shows that having an Extreme CPU requires 'E'xtremely deep pockets, so, really, the ideal comparison for AMD's Athlon 64 X2 6000+, should you wish to make it, is the Intel Core 2 Duo E6700.
(Update - 10/04/07) - AMD has further slashed prices on its X2 series of CPUs. The range-topping X2 6000+ is now available for just £155.
Please, please bear the relative prices in mind when comparing results.
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.
