Efficiency: Optimizing The Clock Rate Of AMD's Phenom II X6

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AMD’s six-core CPU is affordable (at least, compared to Intel's Core i7-980X). We're overclocking the Thuban design to see if its efficiency improves from faster clock rates. Comparisons to other quad- and hexa-core processors provide some perspective.

Benchmark Results: PCMark And 3DMark Vantage

According to 3DMark Vantage, graphics performance doesn’t differ much.

Intel’s portfolio shines here. However, if you take processor cost into consideration, AMD’s lineup remains persuasive.

Overall, the overclocked Phenom II X6 penetrates the performance levels formerly inhabited by Intel’s quad-cores.