AMD CPU Efficiency Compared

AMD CPU efficiency was compared by Tom's Hardware. The processors tested were:

• Sempron 3600 (90 nm; 2000 MHz, 256 kB L2 Cache)
• Athlon 64 X2 4600 (90 nm; 2400 MHz, 1 MB L2 Cache)
• Athlon X2 BE-2400 (65 nm; 2300 MHz, 1 MB L2 Cache)
• Phenom 9600 (65 nm; 2300 MHz, 2 MB L2 and 2 MB L3 Cache)

"If you want to go for an AMD processor, the Athlon X2 or Athlon 64 X2 still are the most reasonable choices. These processors are affordable - some are even downright cheap - and they still deliver sufficient performance. Enthusiasts with a demand for high performance under threaded workloads should look instead for a Phenom (once the B3 stepping is available) or Intel's Core 2 processor family, which still is the champion when it comes to performance, and often the leader in performance per watt as well." [Tom's Hardware]

So the Athlon X2 and Athlon 64 X2 are indeed bargains, if you can ignore the "itch" to go the Phenom (B3 stepping) route.

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