Athlon64 X2 5600 vs Core2Duo E6400

The two start roughly the same speed at stock MHz, if anything I would bet on the AMD chip to take a very slight lead - but it's well known that the Intel chips are able to over clock like crazy if you are into that.

As to future upgrade potential, the AMD platform is known to be very good, with all CPU's in the next 3 to 4 years being able to slot into AM2 motherboards, AM3 and AM2+ processors are guaranteed to work in AM2 based systems.

The 5600+ is faster at stock speeds, no doubt. And cheaper, thanks to AMD's price cuts, which have made several X2s (most, actually...) attractive-looking buys.

On a Clock for Clock cycle, the Intel's toast AMD chips.
The Intel Chips will also run at much higher clock speeds.

Almost w/o fail every C2Duo from the E4300 and up will easily reach 3.0Ghz on stock or near stock voltage so long as you get a proper MB, RAM, PSU, etc.....

The C2Duos OC so easily, it's not even traditional OCing which takes special skill, expensive cooling, and chip risk.

If you plan to overclock, choose E6400. Otherwise x2 5600+ is a better deal. :wink:

Im not sure how much you are paying, but after the 22nd Intel will be cutting prices as well, so if you can wait till then you could build either cheaper with an E6400 and OC or bump up to the E6600 and you would be besting the 5600+ even at stock, but then still have the OC headroom. That is what I would do if I were you! Just my two cents...hope this helps!

Best,

3Ball

I was wondering the same thing with new build, but for me it was the difference in power consumption that tipped me to the Core 2 Duos (and the April 22nd price cuts). The Core2Duo line uses much less power than the X2 5000+ line. So, not only will you pay more over time with an X2 but you have a higher chance of heat-related problems (without a more expensive cooling system), not to mention just plain anti-environment outcome.

Yea like I said before even if not OC'ing I think it would be a more wise choice to wait a week or 2 and buy the E6600 at this point.

Best,

3Ball

Here's a good comparison of AMD vs. Intel processors following the 4/22 Intel price cuts/product introductions.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/dualcore-r...

The e6420 matches up almost exactly with the 5600 in terms of price and stock performance. The C2D offers lower power consumption and better overclocking, the x2 generally offers cheaper MB options.

Currently the CPU market is a bargain shoppers heaven. The only bad prices out there are when compared to other better prices, but historically it is hard to find a better period for consumers.

If you are the type to watch the prices after you will buy you will probably be disappointed. This is not the stock market, prices will almost always go down.

If you are in the low/mid end market you are certainly fine buying today. Like others said, get the C2D if you are going to overclock and the AMD if you are going to run stock.

If only that were true. . . :roll:

Are they releasing the 6420 on the 22nd?

Best,

3Ball

Yes, as far as I know :wink:

WOW! I retract my previous statement to the OP. Get the 6420 after the 22nd instead of the E6600 and then run it @ 400mhz FSB (3.2ghz CPU Speed) and set memory to 1:1 making it run @ 800mhz! lol that is good news for new builders such as my roommate, thx for the info man.

Best,

3Ball

3GHz K8 would be like a 2.5GHz C2D. A 3GHz C2D would be a 3.6GHz K8. A 3.6GHz C2D would be a 4.3GHz K8.

Depends whether you want to overclock or not, that will be the deciding factor imo, but the motherboard will also be a lot cheaper on a cheap am2 system too, so you'll actually be saving more than you thought with the amd

He can get a good mobo for around $125 - 135 and the proc for $185 after the 22nd if he OC's the the price is justified!

Best,

3Ball

Aren't you comparing a high end AMD chip to a lower end Core?
-cm

thanks guys, thats AWESOME!

Great range of responses, I'm very grateful

sorry to go a little off topic, but is overclocking all that neccessary? I can afford to spend about $600 a year on new components, so will get a new $200 chip every 12 months or so. will this not keep me fairly up to speed? thats why my main concern was the upgrade potential - I need a good board with a couple of years life on it - from what I gather theres a fair bit of development still planned for the AM2

in case you're wondering by the way, the rest of the cash I spend will be on a GPU :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

gotta love the gaming

Thanks again dudes - I'm surprised by how helpful you've been. In the past I've been called noob and worse for similar questions - not on this site though  

If only that were true. . . :roll:

Harsh... harsh... do you even know MrsBytch?

Cause if you do then you know just how right you are...
-cm

God I hate Mrs.Bytch myself

It's the fashionable thing to do.
-cm

  lol, but no, I hate mrs.bytch from my own experiences with it

No Kidding. I heard that the last 10 or 20 folks who bashed Mrs. Bytch mysteriously disappeared. :twisted:

Honestly, though, just my input, but in a case where I was deciding between AMD and Intel, both chips being at or near equal, but AMD was slightly more in price, I would purchase AMD. If everyone decided to support the behemoth Intel just because they cost a little less, and the worst happens to AMD, we would certainly be paying for it soon enough...and I'm not 100% referring to money, either.

Yeah, that's true, amd being around forces intel to develope new products and keep prices in line

Hi there, I'm new  

I would buy the E6400 and just give it a slight push. Even if you aren't into overclocking, giving a slight push and just buying that is a good idea. As said before, there is not much skill needed for overclocking these chips until you get into the higher speeds. 3ghz is an easy reach, after that is where a teeny bit of skill comes in, but still not much, and easy for anyone.

Personally, I would go e4400, that has a far higher multiplier which is good for overclocking and it's cheaper too

3GHz K8 would be like a 2.5GHz C2D. A 3GHz C2D would be a 3.6GHz K8. A 3.6GHz C2D would be a 4.3GHz K8.

But it cant touch $62 now can it fanoy?STFU, go back in your corner, and continue banging your head against the wall. :x As usual, you didn't pay attention. The x2 3600+ wasn't one of the options.....TARD!!

But it's not all about Ghz my friend.

A 3Ghz C2D would toast a 3Ghz Brisbane.
So you spend $100 less and you get a CPU with far less potential.

Certain priced builds this may be a wise more.

However, in this case we are talking about the X2 5600.
There are no price points that would justify this CPU IMHO for custom builders.

If the Chips were going to run at stock, the pehaps.
However, anyone who runs low to mid-range CPUs at stock is really
not configuring their system optimally. In an off-the-shelf system on which you cant tweak the speed is a place where AMD holds more ground.

No, I'm not a Fanboy.

I'm just somebody who knows that the AMD chips toasted the old Intel Netburst chips, Intel released new cores that now toasts the AMD cores that are many years old now, and that we are currently awaiting AMDs response to come in the fall.

The reason that AMD has been forced to slash prices as far as they have is because they know their chips are not as good at this point in time.

As you pointed out, the Brisbane 3600+ is a very nice chip at that price point. It can be used to build very nice systems. However, the chip being discussed is the X2 5600 which is far more expensive and negates those advantages. If you were highly budget constrained I could support the use of the chip you specified.

For example, Yesterday a poster said he had about $300 to spend on CPU, MB, and RAM and that he had most of the other components from previous sytems. I specked out a very nice combination with that Brisbane you mentioned. And I added that if he waited two-three weeks and tossed in another $75 he could build a much better system.

In this case, I based my recommendation on suggesting a CPU that was cheaper than any he was looking to purchase and yet could outperform any CPU that AMD has to offer at any price point. It also had about the same potential as the CPU he had listed. If price was a big concern, I would recommend holding off about two weeks for the price cuts and new CPUs to be released.

Fanboy? Yes I am. I am 100% a Fanboy.
But no, I'm not an Intel Fanboy. Nor am I an AMD Fanboy.

I'm a Inexpensive Quality Built System Fanboy.
Give me the best parts at the best prices to meet my needs.

3GHz K8 would be like a 2.5GHz C2D. A 3GHz C2D would be a 3.6GHz K8. A 3.6GHz C2D would be a 4.3GHz K8.

But it cant touch $62 now can it fanoy?STFU, go back in your corner, and continue banging your head against the wall. :x As usual, you didn't pay attention. The x2 3600+ wasn't one of the options.....TARD!!

No, It can't touch $62.

Perhaps this Intel Chip.............
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

It should be able to hit 3.0Ghz, and is only $36!!!!!

Silly comparison you say because the Brisbane would toast this chip?
Well of course.
And the C2D would toast the brisbane.

You get what you pay for.
That is why this Intel Chip is $36 and why the Brisbane is only $62.

MrsBytch just likes to argue, for arguments sake. She/he likes to live up to the name. :wink:

I've noticed that too

Fanoy? You are mean. You said Brisbanes can hit 3GHz also, implying similar performance, I correct you, fanoy.

Cheers for the help guys - I think I've come to a decision....


And the winner is.......

Neither!

After reading all your comments, looking at info elsewhere and properly examining what I really want out of a PC, I've decided on two things

A) I'm going to wait until early June - I have exams until then, and if I start playing games now (expecially LOTR online   ) then I can kiss my A grades goodbye!

B) I'm going to stick to a budget of £450, and get the best I can for that - this will include a hard drive, mobo, chip, memory + GPU ( I have everything else already) this should see me well into next year, when I plan on picking up a mid-high end proc + graphics card. The money I save this year will be put towards a much needed holiday.

Well then, thats it. Sorry that this thread now seems kinda pointless, but I think that many valid points have been made. It certainly increased my knowledge!

Thanks guys!
Sam

Then that sounds like a good plan to wait for k10, or even until amd releases it's 790 chipset if possible, that would be the best possible route for getting a new pc on the cheap. That way you could pick up the cheapest dual core k10, or even a nice single core, with a nice mobo and will be ready to handle dx10 down the road. Bear in mind how much new memory shall cost you and stuff like that though

3GHz K8 would be like a 2.5GHz C2D. A 3GHz C2D would be a 3.6GHz K8. A 3.6GHz C2D would be a 4.3GHz K8.


YOur clock speeds are incorrect... it's more like 650 across the board

650 what?

Yeah Fanboy, but I hear the little 3600+ brisbanes are hitting 3ghz too and there only $62. AM2 mobos are also dirt cheap. On a budget, no C2D can touch that.....Yet.

Yeah, my old P4 could reach 3GHz too, what's your point?  

Yeah, but 3ghz is no where near the max of the netburst arch, while the k8 arch maxes a bit above 3ghz, so 3ghz is a far bigger feat there. Now if you got a p4 to 6ghz, that would be a feat, as 8.xghz was the last record I was aware of and that is where the max of the arch is around. It's a lot more impressive when you hit the max of your architecture than just a specific speed

What's up with people and the hesitance to give simple, factual answers?

If you're not into overclocking, the X2 5600+ is hands down the faster processor in just about every application.

If you like to overclock, you'll get a lot more out of the E6400--but at $40 more.

I personally think the 5200 is a fast enough cpu and wins for the price imo, but the 5600 is a fast cpu

Yeah, I have a 5200+ and it's plenty for the type of stuff I do (regular home usage/gaming basically).

I was merely stating (tongue in cheek) that clockspeed doesn't really mean much nowadays...  

Except upgradability was #2 on the asker's list and I would consider the AMD Agena Quad and Kuma Dual core release in a couple months.

No, it's called comparing a mid-range chip to a mid-range chip; and if one could save $50 on a AM2 board this is a consideration also.

It cracks me up, i've seen more than one on this board with:

E6600@3.6Ghz
4GB PC1066
Intel integrated video

-what-

That's what I am talking about going with am2, am2+ cpus will work in an am2 motherboard

Overclocking isn't necessary obviously, but it is a nice thing to do to save yourself money from having to upgrade to a higher model, you just bump up the clock. Spending $600 a year for new PC parts isn't really a good idea, because that money is being spent on parts that are only a bit faster, or, if the companies are having a slow year, there will be NO new parts for you to replace it with. I would wait 2 years then get a new GPU, I want to wait every full generation (8800GTX to 9800GTX for example). All depending on performance and value of course.

Hah! You think $600 a year is pricey? Look at enthusiasts, people like me that have fairly good computers spend roughly $1k a year after working very hard, and then enthusiasts spend probably $500 a month, if you keep waiting then when the 9800gtx comes out you'll be hmm, I should wait some more, andkeep doing that you'll never buy it, I've seen it happen all the time

That is a good idea. Since you stated that you want to play games and your budget is $450 you will by that point have a good choice of medium priced graphics cards from Nvidia and ATI. That will be a far more important buying decision that the CPU's.

FYI - I just got a AM2 x2 5800+ and mATX MB for $190 from Fry's B&M - to build a new media PC. The MB has onboard 6100 graphics (yuck) but it will limp along until I can get a medium priced graphics card *with the best HD (HD DVD / BluRay) playback acceleration and video quality*.

sorry - the budget is 450 pounds - about $850

planning on a decentish card this year, just to keep me going, then get a top notch 98xx next year if they're available