Intel's Core 2 Duo - The Legend Proves True
Intel's Core 2 Duo lives up to hype - even Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" didn't get these kind of reviews.
"The Core 2 Duo chips include not only the fastest desktop chips on the market, but also the most cost-effective and among the most power-efficient."
"After many hours of testing, we're pleased to report that the Core 2 chips live up to the hype. Intel has recovered its stride, returned to its winning ways, gotten its groove back, and put the izzle back in its shizzle."
"Intel decisively reclaims the power desktop crown from competitor AMD."
"No, you're instead looking at the most impressive piece of silicon the world has ever seen - at the fastest desktop processor we've ever tested. What you're looking at is Conroe and today is its birthday."
Independent chip reviewers across the Internet unveiled the results of their tests of Intel's upcoming Core 2 Duo processor for desktops, or the chip formerly known as Conroe. For the first time in several years, Intel has a clear performance lead in a wide variety of benchmarks for office applications, games and other software.
Read all the benchmark results (we've gathered them all up for you), and see that Intel lives up to the promises- Intel Core 2 Duo tops everything out there, it introduces a new ballgame to the processor world.
The Tech Report
Conclusions
After years of wandering in the wilderness, Intel has recaptured the desktop CPU performance title in dramatic fashion. Both the Core 2 Extreme X6800 and the Core 2 Duo E6700 easily outperform the Athlon 64 FX-62 across a range of applications—and the E6600 is right in the hunt, as well. Not only that, but the Core 2 processors showed no real weaknesses in our performance tests. (I would say that Core looks like a more balanced architecture than Netburst, but at this stage of the game, Netburst just seems slow almost across the board.) No matter what you're hoping to do with your PC, a Core 2 processor should be a very solid choice.
The PC industry can also breathe a collective sigh of relief about power and thermal issues now that Core 2 has arrived. Intel finally has a firm handle on those problems. These processors consume less power—and thus produce less heat—than desktop Pentiums have for quite a while. The E6700 system's total power draw when fully loaded was 156 W, only 14W more than the Pentium Extreme Edition system drew while sitting idle. What's more, even the high-end Core 2 processors' power use was in line with that of the Energy Efficient versions of the Athlon 64 X2. That leaves room for many good things to happen, from less expensive cooling systems to quieter, smaller enclosures and even some righteous overclocking. Combine the low power draw with the performance we've seen, and the Core 2 is clearly the most energy-efficient desktop processor around.
As much as I appreciate the performance and efficiency of these new CPUs, though, I can't endorse forking out a cool grand (minus one) for a Core 2 Extreme X6800. These top-end CPUs are always iffy values, even if they're insane performers. Meanwhile, the prices on the first two Core 2 Duos are very reasonable for what you get. At $316, the Core 2 Duo E6600 looks like a tremendous deal, provided you can get your hands on one. The E6700 is pricier at $530, but it'll beat the much more expensive FX-62 at almost every turn.
In fact, after seeing the Core 2 in action, many folks may be wondering how AMD is going to keep up. The Athlon 64 X2 4200+ currently lists for more than the Core 2 Duo E6600, and that's just not gonna cut it. Fortunately, AMD has confirmed to us that a major price move is coming in July. We don't have the specifics just yet, but they say they intend to maintain a competitive price-performance ratio. That may mean we'll see the dramatic price cuts rumored to be coming, which would be a good start.
For its next trick, AMD needs to get its 65nm fab process going ASAP. I've heard prognostications that AMD won't be able compete against Core 2 chips with its current AMD64 microarchitecture. That may be the case, but I'm not entirely convinced. The contest we've seen in the preceding pages pitted CPUs manufactured on AMD's 90nm process against CPUs made on Intel's 65nm process. The Netburst fiasco at 90nm has made us forgetful about the benefits of process shrinks, but they can be substantial. AMD could be in a much stronger position if it gets to 65nm quickly.
Regardless of what happens with its competition, though, the big story here is that Intel has replaced its troubled Netburst microarchitecture with a world-beater. The Core microarchitecture and the chips based on it are a huge improvement, and a fitting end to the era of the Pentium.
Read the Full Benchmarks Report: http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3/core2/index.x
AnandTech
Final Words
Intel's Core 2 Extreme X6800 didn't lose a single benchmark in our comparison; not a single one. In many cases, the $183 Core 2 Duo E6300 actually outperformed Intel's previous champ: the Pentium Extreme Edition 965. In one day, Intel has made its entire Pentium D lineup of processors obsolete. Intel's Core 2 processors offer the sort of next-generation micro-architecture performance leap that we honestly haven't seen from Intel since the introduction of the P6.
Compared to AMD's Athlon 64 X2 the situation gets a lot more competitive, but AMD still doesn't stand a chance. The Core 2 Extreme X6800, Core 2 Duo E6700 and E6600 were pretty consistently in the top 3 or 4 spots in each benchmark, with the E6600 offering better performance than AMD's FX-62 flagship in the vast majority of benchmarks. Another way of looking at it is that Intel's Core 2 Duo E6600 is effectively a $316 FX-62, which doesn't sound bad at all.
We're still waiting to get our hands on the E6400 as it may end up being the best bang for your buck, but even the slower E6300 is quite competitive with AMD's X2 4200+ and X2 3800+. If AMD drops the price on those two parts even more than we're expecting, then it may be able to hold on to the lower end of the performance mainstream market as the E6300 is not nearly as fast as the E6600.
As impressed as we are with Intel's Core 2 processor lineup, we are still very concerned about availability and street pricing. To quote from our last Core 2 preview article:
While Intel's Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors will be released at the beginning of Q3 of this year it will take some time for all of Intel's shipments to be Conroe based. The scary statistic is that by the end of this year, only 25% of Intel's Performance Mainstream desktop processor shipments will be based on Conroe. The remaining 75% will still be NetBurst based, meaning they will be Pentium 4, Pentium D and Pentium Extreme Edition.
...
For the Dells of the world, Conroe availability shouldn't be too much of an issue because companies like Dell get first dibs. For years of not going with AMD, all while demanding something more competitive from Intel, you better believe that Dell is going to soak up every last Conroe that it can.
The problem then becomes what happens after Dell and HP have eaten their lunch; unfortunately the concern is that aggressive pricing won't be enough to reduce retail demand for Conroe. What we're worried about happening is a very small supply of Conroes on the retail market in late Q3/early Q4, resulting in much higher street prices than what you see on page 2. In the worst case scenario for Intel, Conroe's limited retail availability could result in a price to performance ratio equal to or worse than AMD's Athlon 64 X2.
Despite pulling in the official launch date for Core 2 processor benchmarks, shipment dates for the CPUs haven't changed. According to Intel:
Intel Core 2 Extreme processor based systems and boxed product are expected to be available on the day of launch, 27 July. Intel Core 2 Duo processor based systems and boxed product [through places such as Newegg] are expected to be available from 7 August. Each OEM has their own product introduction / transition cycles based upon their target market segment and current product offerings. We expect some to offer product in August with more introductions extending through September. Check with the OEMs of your choice to get their specific message on system availability.
From what Intel is telling us, you shouldn't be able to so much as purchase Core 2 processors until after the first week in August, although you'll be able to get complete systems before then. At the same time, we're hearing that distributors already have some Core 2 parts in stock and will begin shipping very soon. While we tend to believe Intel's assessment of availability, we're hoping it's conservative.
If Intel's availability statements are true or even worse, overly optimistic, then don't expect to be upgrading to a Core 2 system anytime soon. However, if all goes well, although Vista may be delayed until 2007, Intel's Core 2 processors will give you a very good reason to upgrade this year.
Read Full Benchmark Results: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795
Sharky Extreme
Conclusion
The launch of the Core 2 processor line has hit the market with a bang, and offers up an incredible combination of performance and value, coupled with low heat and power specifications. These processors are so good, that it's difficult to highlight any real negatives. The Core 2 Extreme and Duo processors offer record-breaking performance, industry leading power specs, and are priced so that virtually anyone can afford one. It has been a long time since we have seen a processor walk over the competition like this, and we should all thank AMD for bringing out the very best from Intel, as well as proving that competition does indeed work.
Core 2 Duo E6700 Ratings
Pros:
* Exceptional Performance
* Low Power Consumption
* Price-Performance Leader
* Compatible with Some Current LGA775 Platforms
Cons:
* LGA775 Heatsink-fan Design
Ratings:
Innovation - 9
Technology - 9.5
Performance - 10
Value - 9
Overall - 9.5
Core 2 Extreme X6800 Ratings
Pros:
* Fastest Desktop Processor
* Low Power Consumption
* Compatible with Some Current LGA775 Platforms
Cons:
* Expensive
* No HT or Other "Extreme" Extras
* LGA775 Heatsink-fan Design
Ratings:
Innovation - 9
Technology - 9.5
Performance - -10
Value - 7.5
Overall - 9
Read Full Benchmark Results: http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/cpu/article.php/3261_3620036__12
PCWorld
Exclusive PC World tests show that PCs equipped with Intel's new Core 2 Duo processors, formerly code-named Conroe, set new high marks for desktop performance--they're the fastest we've seen by far.
With this chip line, due to launch formally on July 27, Intel decisively reclaims the power desktop crown from competitor AMD.
In our WorldBench 5 test suite, Intel's Core 2 Duo reference system outscored a matching system equipped with AMD's high-end Athlon 64 FX-62 chip by 17 percent. We also tested shipping PCs based on several chips in the Core 2 Duo family, including a water-cooled, overclocked ABS machine that posted a mark of 181 on our WorldBench 5 test--the highest WorldBench score we've ever seen. (See our detailed test results. For full reviews of four new Core 2 Duo-based systems, click the product names in the results chart.)
All of our Core 2 Duo configurations performed impressively, and the higher-end models in particular should allow power users to handle demanding multimedia work on their PCs more quickly and to perform multiple computing tasks at once more efficiently. Gaming, too, will receive an impressive boost from systems equipped with the new chips.
Read Full Benchmark Results: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,126342,pg,1,00.asp
PCMag
Final Thoughts: The Core of a New Machine
After a long gestation period, Intel has successfully delivered on its promise of substantially faster CPUs that use significantly less power. For the near term, Core 2 looks like the must-have CPU for enthusiast and mainstream user alike.
* Falcon Northwest Mach V with Core 2 Extreme
* The Conroe Effect
* Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition
* AMD: Intel's Playing Right Into Our Hands
* Read More About Core 2 Duo (Formerly Conroe)
So far, AMD's only short term response seems to be its odd "4x4" technology, a hybrid dual-socket technology aimed at really hard core users. But even those hard core users may simply opt for Core 2 Extreme. After all, it seems to be easily overclockable beyond 3 GHz, and runs like a bat out of hell—and uses less power and generates less heat than a potential dual-socket FX-based system. Next year, we'll see the K8L line emerge from AMD. But for the interim, it's going to be a long, hot summer and a cold winter for AMD. About the only thing AMD can do is play the pricing game, which can only cut into profitability.
That's not to say that everything will be clear sailing for Intel. The company still has substantial inventory of Netburst class processors that it will need to work through. Demand is likely to be quite high for Core 2, and the issue of product allocation may rear its ugly head. To its credit, Intel has been busy building Core 2 CPUs, but high demand may still put a stress on production and distribution. Intel claims that boxed, retail processors should be on store shelves less than a month after the launch, while systems from most manufacturers will be available on day one.
That's a problem that Intel is probably happy to have at this point. Core 2 looks like a winner, and will likely be the shiny new bauble that performance enthusiasts love to have dangled in front of them. We're certainly impressed with what we've seen: high performance and low power utilization. And while Core 2 Extreme is pricey, the E6700 has shown its no slouch.
So get out your credit cards. You want one. You know you do.
Full Benchmark Results: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1989027,00.asp
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