Intel's Core 2 Extreme & Core 2 Duo: The Empire Strikes Back
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 14, 2006 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
The Test
We've already covered the architecture behind Intel's Core 2 processors extensively in the past, leaving the only unanswered questions centered around final performance. Today we're here to answer these questions, and we'll focus exclusively on performance. If you want to read more about Intel's Core architecture, please look back at the following articles:
Because AMD is killing off its 1MB L2 Athlon 64 X2 parts, we've only included 512KB X2s in this review. The Athlon 64 FX-62 features a 1MB L2 per core and is obviously still included.
| CPU: | AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 (2.8GHz/1MBx2) AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (2.6GHz/512KBx2) AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (2.4GHz/512KBx2) AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (2.2GHz/512KBx2) AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0GHz/512KBx2) Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 965 (3.73GHz/2MBx2) Intel Pentium D 960 (3.6GHz/2MBx2) Intel Pentium D 950 (3.4GHz/2MBx2) Intel Pentium D 940 (3.2GHz/2MBx2) Intel Pentium D 930 (3.0GHz/2MBx2) Intel Pentium D 920 (2.8GHz/2MBx2) Intel Pentium D 820 (2.8GHz/1MBx2) Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz/4MB) Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.66GHz/4MB) Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.40GHz/4MB) Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86GHz/2MB) |
| Motherboard: | MSI K9A Platinum (Socket AM2) Intel D975XBX (LGA-775) |
| Chipset: | ATI RD580 Intel 975X |
| Chipset Drivers: | Catalyst 6.6 (ATI) Intel 7.2.2.1007 (Intel) |
| Hard Disk: | Seagate 7200.9 300GB SATA |
| Memory: | Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 (1GB x 2) |
| Video Card: | 2 x ATI Radeon X1900 XT CrossFire |
| Video Drivers: | ATI Catalyst 6.6 |
| Desktop Resolution: | 1280 x 1024 - 32-bit @ 60Hz (1600 x 1200 for games) |
| OS: | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
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bob661 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
I agree. 20% is huge and noticeable.Chadder007 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
AMD's midrange holds up pretty well but when you go higher the Core2 crushes AMD this time.I would really like to see some X64bit benchmarks though to see how they will both fair with the future OSs.
Gary Key - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Coming shortly along with MCE2005......bob661 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Don't confuse the Core Solo with the Core 2 Duo. The Solo is still Netburst whereas the Core 2 Duo is a new architecture.DrMrLordX - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Um what? Core Solo isn't Netburst. It's a single-core version of Yonah as I recall. Basically, it's similar to a Dothan.bob661 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Which is still Netburst.mlittl3 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Uh, no. Banias, Dothan, Yonah are not at all based on netburst. They are all P6 derivatives that use the netburst quad-pumped FSB. The Core Solo is a Yonah single core that has more in common with the PIII than the P4. The Core 2 Solo coming next year will be based on Conroe which of course is not Netburst. The ONLY, I repeat, ONLY netburst CPUs (not including Xeons) are the Pentium 4, Pentium D, Celeron D. There were mobile Pentium 4's on the netburst architecture but these haven't been used in years.The Pentium M (Banias and Dothan) is NOT based on netburst but a redesigned architecture based on the research in Israel.
mlittl3 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
And in case you try to stupidly refute me, list the number of pipelines that are in Banias, Dothan and Yonah. If the answer is less than 20, then it is NOT netburst.Oh wait, here is the answer right here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_P6">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_P6
A direct quote:
"It[Banias] has very limited system bandwidth, as compared to NetBurst and AMD64..."
Since Banias is not netburst and Dothan is based off of Banias and Yonah is based on Dothan, then...wait for it...all three are not netburst. Have a nice day! :)
bob661 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
I don't refute facts. :)mlittl3 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Man after my own heart. :)