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• Intels' Core 2 Duo E6400 joins the Price/Performance Charts

  How could we have left out Intel's Core 2 Duo E6400 from our Price/Performance charts? Several readers complained last week about the lack of Intel's E6400/E6300 mainstream processors in our charts which provide a weekly update on the best value in the retail processor market. This week, the data of the E6400 became available - and began to cause more headaches for the green team. Last week, we took a look at the performance power and value of a handful of processors from both Intel and AMD. At the time, AMD provided less value in the high-end market but offered a very reliable pricing structure. Intel, on the other hand, had relatively over-priced entry-level models and erratic pricing across the board. However, they did offer more value per dollar in their high-end products, like the Core 2 Duo processors. Now, one week later, we've taken another look at the prices of these processors relative to their performance - in anticipation to see another adjustment of prices that typically surfaces towards the end of every week. We were not disappointed, as average prices of processors have shifted since a week ago. Keep in mind that we are looking at average market pricing data that is provided my Pricegrabber.com. These numbers are always dynamically changing and you may be able to find each processor for a substantially higher or lower price, depending on the retailer. Additionally, this week, the guys over at Tom's Hardware put to the test an overclocked Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 processor, at 3.34 GHz. We took the benchmark data from that, as well as from a standard E6400, and added them to our data. While you cannot buy an overclocked version of that processor, the additional performance and improved positioning in our chart may be especially valuable to users who enjoy overclocking their processors. We will be enhancing our charts with a performance/watt chart as soon as sufficient and reliable data is available, which may change the location of such overclocked processors in the ranking. This week revealed slight price fluctuations of between $4 and $15 pretty much across the board, which is to be expected in a dynamic market. The more noteworthy changes include the price of Intel's Pentium D 840 processor, which dropped 9% or $51 over the past week. The D 820 fell by 11% or $29 and now costs $106, which is dramatically less than our reference processor's (Pentium 4 520) $155. The Pentium EE 965 dipped by $31, though that's hardly a dent in the wildly overpriced processor. The Netburst architecture-based processor currently sells for an average of $1050, while the newer, Core-based Core 2 Extreme sells for $1003 - which is just $4 above Intel's $999 tray price. The only notable increase on the Intel side comes from the Core 2 Duo E6700 - the company's fastest mainstream processor. Last week, the average price for one of those was an even $500. This week, it rose to $526, which could be an early sign of the approaching holiday season and higher demand for those processors. Most places that sold the processor in the sub-$500 range last week have the chip on backorder this week. The AMD side offers an interesting story and it appears that at least half of the firm's batch hasn't found its pricing spot yet. Half of the eight processors we're looking at showed significant fluctuations. The Athlon 64 FX-62 and X2 4800+ dropped by $31 and $35, respectively, AMD's high-end gaming processor was priced in the $1000 a few weeks ago, now you can get it for a more affordable and average $677. The mainstream X2 side also brought some price drops this week: The X2 5000+ decreased by 14% or $69 to $429. A particularly popular processor appeared to be the 4400+ version, which increased its pricing by more than 50% to $383, making it more expensive than the 4600+ and 4800+. The 4400+ is a major factor that shifts AMD's price-performance correlation this week.

• Wolfgang Gruener What is it: Core 2 Duo T5000/7000 series processors, Core 2 Duo E6000/Q6000 series processors for mobile and desktop computers Why we chose it: You can imagine that there were heated debates over virtually any product on this list; especially if you come down to the last 15 worthy entrants or so, you wonder if its the better choice to just extend the ranking from 10 to 15 rather than dropping a contestant that deserves to be recognized. For Core 2 Duo, there was never a discussion, and no one on the TG Daily staff really considered a different product on #1 instead. If you break it down, there was no other hardware technology that had a similar impact on its competitive field or on the hardware industry as a whole. The Core 2 Duo processor propelled Intel from being dead last in performance rankings to a very comfortable lead, it delivered on its promise on power-efficient computing and, probably most important, it restored Intel's credibility. A Core-based microprocessor is the product of choice when you are buying a new notebook or desktop computer today. Period. The fact that Intel was able to roll out two quad-core CPU based on Core was impressive evidence of the progress the company made in less than twelve months. Effectively, you get twice the performance for (currently) less money than one year ago. Congratulations to Intel for one of the most impressive comebacks we have witnessed in this industry. So, what about AMD? It's an obvious question many will ask, so let us give answers. You may have noticed that we excluded the Xeon 5100/5300 series, which is based on the Core 2 Duo, from this recognition. The simple reason is that we believe that, while available as a quad-core-processor, the 5100 does not show the unquestioned lead over AMD's Opteron than the Core 2 Duo over the Athlon 64 X2 and Turion 64 X2 processors. Many buyers of server and workstation processors evaluate processors on a case-by-case scenario and there is credible evidence that, at this time, the Opteron processor remains the better choice in certain scenarios. The Xeon 5100/5300 was a leap ahead for Intel, but the Woodcrest/Clovertown cannot quite distance itself from the Opteron CPU. On the desktop, AMD's X2 and FX aren't suddenly bad processors. You can't make much wrong purchasing such a chip; it just isn't the best you can buy anymore. The company recently announced 65 nm versions that claim to consume less power than Core 2 Duos, but they are not available in sufficient numbers and, so far, we haven't received product samples that would have allowed us to verify these claims. QuadFX, we learned after our Top-10 disappointments article, was a technology many readers would have liked to see as one of the top disappointments. We wouldn't go quite as far and still believe that QuadFX is a very capable technology with lots of potential, but it's time has not arrived yet. What it means to you: We are in the midst of a time where the microprocessor is exciting again. Don't get confused: Core 2 Duo is the reason to buy a new PC, not Windows Vista. Predictions for 2007: Next year will be less dramatic on Intel's side. You'll see a bunch more quad-cores, but Core-based dual-cores will remain the mainstream choice in desktop computing. The mobile processor will get a refresh with a faster 800 MHz FSB in Q2, which you can basically view as the hardware upgrade that makes Windows Vista much more enjoyable. Intel appears to be on track to introduce the first 45 nm processors with "Penryn" core (the 2nd generation Core architecture) very late in Q4 and we are quite certain that these processors will consume less power, while performing substantially better than the first generation Core. It looks like that especially floating point performances are on the increase. It's also the year for AMD to catch up on the desktop and mobile platforms. Look for the new dual-core "Kuma" as well as the "Agena"/"AgenaFX" quad-core around mid-2007. Expect these processors to exceed the performance/watt ratio of Core. ATI-technology will be key to completing an upgraded Turion X2 platform with DDR2-800 memory and dynamic graphics switching. Don't be surprised if AMD will unveil a completely new 65 nm mobile processor by the end of 2007. Article Coverage: Core 2 Duo launches First Core 2 Duo T benchmarks Intel roadmap update November 2006 Intel announces Kentsfield quad-core processor Slideshows: Core 2 Duo: Past, present, future Do you agree with these choices? Discuss this article in our forum!

• Intel's Core 2 series sits at the top of both the performance and overclocking charts, its slowest E6300 adding a value price to the mix. Every step down in die process removes some amount of voltage tolerance; arbitrarily placing a 1.45 V limit on this 65 nm core increases the likelihood that it will last over a year rather than a few months or less. 2.6 GHz should be easily attainable using the stock cooler with most "overclockable" motherboards. Speeds exceeding 3.0 GHz might be possible at our "low" recommended voltage using recent core revisions and better-equipped boards. Overclockable Motherboards We chose a price limit of $100 for low-cost motherboards and $150 for mid-priced parts. Compared to midrange boards, low-cost versions typically lack not just some controllers, but some BIOS overclocking features as well. Our needs and budgetary restrictions make such selections especially challenging. On the midrange front, there are so many good overclocking parts that familiarity may have been used to aid the decision. Unfortunately, this means that a few products may have been overlooked, but we're sure members of our Forumz will point these out...