iXBT Labs - AMD Athlon 64 X2 Retrospective - Page 1: Introduction, testbed

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In this article we shall pay, perhaps, the last tribute to the AMD Athlon 64 X2 family, first product of which we tested more than two years ago. This family saw different days, from nearly absolute reign to the first heavy blows from its rival. Now a slow recession is clear enough, since both Intel and AMD have more prospective and efficient processors. It's high time to draw a bottom line and we have done that by testing eight Athlon 64 X2 processors -- from the low-end 3600+ to the top-end 6400+.

Speaking of competitors, well, they are "curious", so to say. It's not interesting or informative when some processor is always on the last (or the first) place in all tests. Having this in mind, we selected more appropriate contenders to avoid such an outcome.

Hardware and software

Testbed configuration

CPU	Mainboard	Memory	Video
Intel Pentium E / Core 2 Duo	ASUS Maximus Extreme	Corsair CM3X1024-1800C7DIN	GeForce 8800 GTX
AMD Athlon 64 X2 / Phenom	ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe	Corsair TWIN2X4096-9136C5DF	GeForce 8800 GTX

RAM: 4 x 1GB
HDD: Samsung HD401LJ (SATA-2)
Coolers: Thermaltake TMG i1, TMG a1
PSU: Cooler Master RS-A00-EMBA

CPU	Process technology, nm	Core clock, MHz	Number of cores	L1 I/D cache, KB*	L2 cache, KB**	L3 cache, KB	Memory clock, MHz***	Multiplier	Socket	TDP****
Athlon 64 X2 3600+	65	1900	2	64/64	2x512	-	380	9,5	AM2	65
Athlon 64 X2 4000+	65	2100	2	64/64	2x512	-	350	10,5	AM2	65
Athlon 64 X2 4400+	65	2300	2	64/64	2x512	-	384	11,5	AM2	65
Athlon 64 X2 4800+	65	2500	2	64/64	2x512	-	357	12,5	AM2	65
Athlon 64 X2 5200+	65	2700	2	64/64	2x512	-	386	13,5	AM2	65
Athlon 64 X2 5600+	65	2900	2	64/64	2x512	-	363	14,5	AM2	65
Athlon 64 X2 6000+	90	3000	2	64/64	2x1024	-	376	15	AM2	125
Athlon 64 X2 6400+	90	3200	2	64/64	2x1024	-	400	16	AM2	125
Phenom X3 8450	65	2100	3	64/64	3x512	2048	533	10,5	AM2+	95
Phenom X3 8750	65	2400	3	64/64	3x512	2048	533	12	AM2+	95
Phenom X4 9550	65	2200	4	64/64	4x512	2048	533	11	AM2+	125
Phenom X4 9850	65	2500	4	64/64	4x512	2048	533	12,5	AM2+	125
Pentium E2140	65	1600	2	32/32	1024	-	400	8	LGA775	65
Pentium E2220	65	2400	2	32/32	1024	-	400	12	LGA775	65
Core 2 Duo E4300	65	1800	2	32/32	2048	-	400	9	LGA775	65
Core 2 Duo E4700	65	2600	2	32/32	2048	-	400	9	LGA775	65
Core 2 Duo E6550	65	2333	2	32/32	4096	-	667	7	LGA775	65

* Per single core in multi-core processors.
** "X x Y" means "X KB per each of Y cores".
*** - Effective (physical) memory clock rate in a system based on this CPU.
**** Specified differently in Intel and AMD processors, so a direct comparison would be incorrect.

Software

Application	64-bit	Multi-threaded*
Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2	+	+
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1	+	+
Autodesk 3ds max 9 SP2	+	+
V-Ray 1.5 SP1	+	+
Autodesk Maya 2008 Ultimate	+	+
NewTek Lightwave 3D 9.2	+	+
SolidWorks 2007SP0.0	+	+
PTC Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 3.0M120	+	-
UGS NX55.0.0.25	+	+
Wolfram Research Mathematica 6	+	+
MapleSoft Maple 11	-	+
MathWorks MATLAB 2007	+	+
Adobe Photoshop CS3 10.0	-	+
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008	+	+
Apache HTTP Server 2.2.8	-	+
PHP 5.2.5	-	+
MySQL Community Server 5.0.51a	-	+
ACDSee 10 Photo Manager	-	+
xat.com Image Optimizer 5.10	-	-
IrfanView 4.10	-	-
XnView 1.93.4	-	-
Paint.NET 3.30	+	+
7-Zip4.57	+	+
WinRAR 3.71	-	+
UltimateZip 3.2	-	-
FLAC 1.2.1	-	-
LAME-MT3.97	+	+
Musepack MPC Encoder 1.16	-	-
Nero Digital Audio Encoder 1.1.34.2	-	+
Ogg Encoder 2.83 (Lancer)	-	+
Canopus ProCoder 3.0	-	+
DivX Codec 6.8.2	-	+
XviD Codec 1.1.3 Final	-	-
x264 Codec rev 807	-	+
VirtualDub 1.8.0	-	+
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Patch 1.5)	-	+
Call of Juarez (Patch 1.1.0.0) + DX10 Enhancements Pack	-	-
Crysis (Patch 1.2)	+	+
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (Patch 1.006)	-	+
Unreal Tournament 3 (Patch 1.2)	-	+
Company of Heroes (Patch 1.71)	-	+
World in Conflict (Patch 1.007)	-	+

* Means that two or more simultaneously active threads are actually present during tests; not just the fact that a process generates several threads.

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