AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ ...misleading?

[xXDracoXx]

I planned out a PC setup recently that I want to get including the said CPU and now I'm perplexed when I see this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/21/the_mother_of_all_cpu_charts_2005/page29.html

I want a gaming machine and included the X2 for future games with multi-thread optimizations. However, when I see the 3800+ X2 lag behind so badly, I wonder if it's actually a good choice. Shouldn't it at least perform like a single 3800+ on completely unoptimized games?

Can anyone enlighten me?

 

[ltcommander_data]

The rating system of X2 3800+ indicates the performance compared to a single core in a multi-threaded environment. This would obviously put the single core at a disadvantage and have the dual core performance better. However, while the in a single threaded environment the A64 3800+ will obviously perform faster since it operates at 2.4GHz compared to 2 GHz. Is this misleading? Perhaps, but it's really just perception of comparing single core in multithread or dual cores in single thread. In any case, it'll be even more complicated soon as the dual core for the new Socket AM2 will have there numbers increased. For example, a dual core 2GHz on Socket 939 is the X2 3800+ while a dual core 2 GHz on Socket M2 is the X2 4200+. Whether moving to higher latency DDR2 yields a 400MHz increase in performance in the major of applications is debatable.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28367

If you are focusing solely on gaming performance then you really should be looking at a single core as they will offer better gaming performance for the same price.

It should be noted though that thanks to Intel, mainstream multithreaded gaming isn't as far away as it seems. Intel has been working closely with major gaming companies to promote multithreaded code and Quake 4 has now been Hyperthreading and dual-core optimized. The results allow the X2 3800+ to clearly beat the A64 3800+.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/quake_4_dual-core_performance/page4.asp

Intel and Activision have also been working on multithreaded gaming and Call of Duty 2 has likewise been dual core and Hyperthreading optimized.

http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=9087

 

[runswindows95]

The way AMD is looking at the X2 3800+ is an entry level dual-core processor. It was designed to introduce the X2's into the main stream market. In fact, the HP a1250n uses the 3800+ and only cost $900. The way to look at the X2 3800+, in my honest opinion, is as the Sempron of dual-cores.

 

[linux_0]

The Single core 4000+ will be faster for games now.

The Dual core x2 3800+ may become faster later on as the industry catches up and parallelizes / multi-threads their code.