Intel Pentium D 960, 950, 945, 920, 915: There's little to say about the rest of the Pentium D 9XX line that doesn't already apply to the Extreme Edition 966 and 955. The family is filled out with five SKUs ranging in clock speed from 2.8 GHz to 3.6 GHz.
All support HyperThreading and Intel's Virtualization technology. The decision to go with a 9XX will rely largely on price. Unfortunately, the prices of the 9XX series are caught in a something of a pincer. Beneath them are the 8XX chips: not as good, but a heck of a lot cheaper. Accordingly, if you're really budget-constrained, you'd probably be better off looking at, say, the 805.
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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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In a bid to pare down its huge array of dual-core SKUs, Intel in mid-August issued a notice that it would stop selling the 3.0-GHz Pentium D 930 and the 3.2-GHz 940 by the end of the year. Those processors are still available at the time this article is being posted -- both the 930 and 940 can be obtained from online retailers for around $200 and $210, respectively. However, for that money, you'd do just as well buying an entry-level Core 2 Duo.
One last factor to consider in your choice of processor is the cost of the motherboard you're planning to plug it into. While both the Core 2 Duo and the 9XX parts use the same Intel 775 socket, the Core 2 Duos require a motherboard equipped with the proper Intel core-logic chipset and updated firmware. While a 9XX motherboard can be had for around $100, figure you'll pay around $250 for one able to handle the newer processors.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and 4200+: These two CPUs highlight the ongoing shift in the dual-core landscape. Last year, the 4600+ was included in our highest category -- performance processors -- among several other thousand-dollar chips. The 4200+ was listed as a high-end offering. Today, the 2.4-GHz 4600+ and 2.2-GHz 4200+ remain as solid as ever, but now they fall firmly in the middle of the dual-core pack.
But, boy, are these chips cheaper now. The X2 4200+ is available for $199, the 4600+ for $256. As David Schwarzbach, AMD's desktop product manager, puts it: "With the new pricing, we now have proven dual-core performance at affordable prices that are within reach of a larger portion of the market."
One other difference to note is that this year the two chips are being made in versions for the newer AM2 socket, which supports DDR2 memory. Older versions for the 939 socket have been "end-of-lifed" by AMD.
