AMD Processors: Athlon 64 FX-62, Athlon 64 X2 5000+
Intel Processors: Core 2 Extreme X6800, Core 2 Duo E6700, E6600, E6400, E6300
The conventional wisdom is that cutting-edge processors are largely for "enthusiast" users such as gamers, who demand the utmost in raw, uncompromised performance from their PCs. More recently, multimedia has been added to that mix. If you're editing movies and music, or simply using your system to watch a bunch of video streams, the fastest processors will enable your applications to avoid those annoying, unintentional pauses that are sometimes a prelude to a lock-up.
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• Introduction • Performance Dual-Core CPUs • Mainstream Dual-Core CPUs • Bargain Dual-Core CPUs • Single-Core CPUs • Quick Charts: Specs & Prices |
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Only you can decide whether the bragging rights of owning one of these chips is worth its high price. It's always nice to have the best. On the other hand, remember that there's a much wider array of dual-core choices now available than was the case last year. Now, the combination of Intel's slew of recent introductions and price cuts on slightly older but by no means obsolete processors means that, this year, you can get some pretty good mainstream dual-core CPUs without paying through the nose.
Still, the best dual-cores money can buy are indeed good. Intel's Core 2 Duo processors, introduced in July, are widely considered to be the best-performing desktop CPUs around. They've won rave reviews from the likes of Tom's Hardware and TweakTown.
Not that AMD, which has as its top offering the Athlon 64 FX-62, has anything to apologize for. That CPU earned widespread kudos after it came out in May, and was, until Core 2, the top desktop chip.
Meet The CPUs
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800: Because Intel and AMD continually one-up each other, no single chip can lay claim to being CPU performance king for very long. Nevertheless, right now, the new Core 2 Extreme X6800 can confidently be said to reside at the top of the heap. (Here's a list of recent reviews.)
For hobbyists intent on pushing their home-brew PC to the limit, the X6800 appears to be more amenable than most CPUs to overclocking -- the technique through which users push a chip well past its manufacturer's quoted clock speed. (The 2.93-GHz X6800 has reportedly been clocked as high as 3.75 GHz.)
At a street price of $1,100, it's not cheap. (Intel's list price for the X6800 in high-quantity "trays" sold to OEMs is $999.) There were also availability concerns following its introduction in late July, with some anxious gamers complaining they couldn't get systems. However, with Intel promising that the Core 2 family will have its fastest ramp-up ever, those concerns are abating.
