Low-Power Face-Off: AMD's Athlon X2 Vs. Intel's Core 2 Duo

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Test Setup

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System Hardware
Hardware Details
AMD Low Power CPU AMD Athlon X2 5050e (65 nm, 2.6 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache, ADH5050IAA5DO, Brisbane G2, TDP 45 W)
AMD Standard Power CPU AMD Athlon X2 5400+ Black Edition (65 nm, 2.8 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache, ADO5400IAA5DS, Brisbane G2, TDP 65 W)
Intel Low Power CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550s (45 nm, 2.83 GHz, 12 MB L2 Cache, TDP 65 W, Rev. E0)Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200s (45 nm, 2.33 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, TDP 65 W, Rev. R0)
Intel Standard Power CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (45 nm, 3.16 GHz, 6 MB L2 Cache, 65 W TDP, Rev. E0)Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 (45 nm, 2.53 GHz, 3 MB L2 Cache, 65 W TDP, Rev. M0)
AMD Motherboard (Socket AM2+) Gigabyte MA78GM-US2H (Rev. 1.0) Chipset: AMD780G, SB700 BIOS: F2 (01/02/2009)
Intel Motherboard ( Socket LGA775) Intel DG45ID (Rev. 1.0) Chipset: Intel G45, ICH10R BIOS: 0089 (01/09/2009)
RAM 2x 2 GB DDR2-1066 (Crucial CT25664AA1067) operated at DDR2-800 (CL4-4-4-12)
HDD Western Digital Caviar SE 16, 500 GB (WD5000AAKS) 7,200 RPM, SATA/300, 16 MB Cache
Blu-Ray Drive LG GGW-H20L, SATA/150
Power Supply Fortron FSP220-60LE, 220 W
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System Software And Drivers
Operating System Windows Vista Enterprise Version 6.0 (Build 6000)
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Drivers  And Settings
AMD Chipset Drivers Catalyst Control Center 9.2
AMD Graphics Drivers Integrated with chipset drivers
Intel Chipset Drivers Installation Utility 9.0.0.1008
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3D Games Benchmarks and Settings
Benchmarks Details
World In Conflict Version: 1.0.0.9, Video Mode: 1280x1024, Video Quality: low details, Demo: Game-Benchmark
Unreal Tournament 3 Version: 1.2, Video Mode: 1680x1050, Sound and DirectX10, Video Quality: Texture Details: 1, Level Details: 1, Demo: vCTF-CONTAINMENT_fly, Time: 12/60
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Audio Benchmarks and Settings
Benchmarks Details
iTunes Version: 7.7.1.11, Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 min, Default format AAC
Lame MP3 Version 3.98, Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, wave to mp3, 160 Kbps
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Video Benchmarks and Settings
Benchmarks Details
Pinnacle Studio 12 Version: 12.0.0.6163 Encoding and Transition Rendering DV camcorder movie Video: 720 x 576 Pixel, PAL, 25 fps, 6000 Kbits/sec Audio: MPEG Layer 2, 224 Kbits/sec 16 Bit, Stereo 44.1 KHz File Type: MPEG-2 (DVD Compatible)
TMPEG 4.5 Version: 4.5.1.254 Video: Terminator 2 SE DVD (720x576, 16:9) 5 Minutes Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, 6-Kanal, English Advanced Acoustic Engine MP3 Encoder (160 kbps, 44.1 KHz)
DviX 6.8.3 Version: 6.8.3 == Main Menu == default == Codec Menu == Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading Enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search == Video Menu == Quantization: MPEG-2
XviD 1.1.3 Version: 1.1.3 Other Options / Encoder Menu - Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.5.1 Reference H.264 plugin Pro 1.5.1 Version: 1.5.1 MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264) MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2) Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16 Bit, 224 kbps) Codec: H.264 Mode: PAL (25 FPS) Profile: Tom's Hardware Settings for Qct-Core
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 HDTV Mainconcept H.264 Plugin 3.2 Windows Media Encoder 9.1 AP HDTV Windows Audio Encoder 10 Pro Version: 3.0NTSC MPEG2-HDTV 1920x1080 (24 sec) Import: Mainconcept NTSCHDTV 1080i Export: Adobe Media Encoder == Video == Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile Encoding Passes: one Bitrate Mode: Constant Frame: 1920x1080 Frame Rate: 29.97 Maximum Bitrate [kbps]: 2000 Image Quality: 50.00 == Audio == Windows Media Audio 10 Professional Encoding Passes: one Bitrate Mode: Constant Audio Format: 160 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 2 channel 16 bit (A/V) CBR
HD Playback (Blue Ray) PowerDVD 8 Blue Ray - Disc (John Rambo) Video Mode: 1920x1080p (full screen) Codec: H.264
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Applications Benchmarks and Settings
Benchmark Details
Grisoft AVG Anti-virus 8 Version: 8.0.134, Virus base: 270.4.5/1533, Benchmark, Scan: some compressed ZIP and RAR archives
WinRAR 3.8 Version 3.80 BETA 4 WinZIP Commandline Version 2.3 Compression = Best Dictionary = 4096 KB Benchmark: THG-Workload
WinZip 11 Version 11.2 (8094) Compression = Best Benchmark: THG-Workload
Maxon Cinema 4D Release 10 Version: 10.008 Rendering from a scene (Water drop at a Rose) Resolution: 1280 x 1024 - 8Bit (50 frames)
Adobe Photoshop  CS 3 Version: 10.0x20070321 Filtering from a 69 MB TIF-Photo Benchmark: Tomshardware-Benchmark V1.0.0.4 Programmed by Tomshardware using Delphi 2007 Filters: Crosshatch Glass Sumi-e Accented Edges Angled Strokes Sprayed Strokes
Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional Version: 9.0.0 (Extended) == Printing Preferences Menu == Default Settings: Standard == Adobe PDF Security - Edit Menu == Encrypt all documents (128 bit RC4) Open Password: 123 Permissions Password: 321
Microsoft Powerpoint 2007 Version: 2007 PPT to PDF Powerpoint Document (115 Pages) Adobe PDF-Printer
Deep Fritz 11 Version: 11 Fritz Chess Benchmark Version 4.2
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Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
Benchmark Details
3DMarK Vantage Version: 1.02, Options: Performance, Graphics Test 1, Graphics Test 2, CPU Test 1, CPU Test 2
PCMarK Vantage Version: 1.00 PCMark Benchmark Memories Benchmark Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646
SiSoftware Sandra XII SP2 Version 2008.5.14.24 CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark