Intel's Core 2 Extreme & Core 2 Duo: The Empire Strikes Back
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 14, 2006 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
New Pricing
As you will soon see, Intel's new Core 2 lineup has basically made all previous Intel processors worthless. The performance of the new Core 2 CPUs is so much greater, with much lower power consumption, that owners of NetBurst based processors may want to dust off the old drill bits and make some neat looking keychains.
Intel also realizes that its new Core 2 line will make its older Pentium D and Pentium Extreme Edition processors seem a bit homely, and thus it will significantly reduce the pricing on some of the CPUs by the end of this month to help spruce them up a bit.
Intel's new pricing, effective starting July 23rd, is listed below:
| CPU | Clock Speed | L2 Cache | Price |
| Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 | 2.93GHz | 4MB | $999 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 | 2.66GHz | 4MB | $530 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 | 2.40GHz | 4MB | $316 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 | 2.13GHz | 2MB | $224 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 | 1.86GHz | 2MB | $183 |
| Intel Pentium D 945 | 3.40GHz | 2MBx2 | $163 |
| Intel Pentium D 915 | 2.80GHz | 2MBx2 | $133 |
| Intel Pentium D 820 | 2.80GHz | 1MBx2 | $113 |
| Intel Pentium D 805 | 2.66GHz | 1MBx2 | $93 |
The table above only showcases the NetBurst CPUs that are actually cheaper than their Core 2 counterparts; there are a number that are priced equal to Core 2 options, but you'll want to stay away from those (more blatant foreshadowing).
Unfortunately AMD won't have an architectural update of the Athlon 64 X2 until sometime in 2007 or 2008, thus its only response to Intel's Core 2 lineup today is to also reduce pricing. Shortly before today's launch AMD informed us that more aggressive price cuts for the Athlon 64 X2 line were coming in July, but we couldn't get any more specific information. The best numbers we've got are those that were leaked shortly after Computex, which may end up being higher than what AMD is now thinking of doing:
| CPU | Clock Speed | L2 Cache | Projected Price |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ | 2.6GHz | 512KBx2 | $403 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ | 2.4GHz | 512KBx2 | $301 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ | 2.2GHz | 512KBx2 | $240 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | 2.0GHz | 512KBx2 | $169 |
In order to keep prices competitive, AMD is also killing off its Athlon 64 X2s with a 1MB L2 cache. By only shipping 512KB parts (except for the limited quantities of FX processors that are sold), AMD can produce more CPUs per wafer and thus help increase supply and offer lower prices.
Below we've compared both AMD and Intel's proposed price cuts, and as you can see, AMD needs to do a lot more in order to remain competitive.
| CPU | Clock Speed | L2 Cache | Price |
| Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 | 2.93GHz | 4MB | $999 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 | 2.66GHz | 4MB | $530 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ | 2.6GHz | 512KBx2 | $403* |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 | 2.40GHz | 4MB | $316 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ | 2.4GHz | 512KBx2 | $301* |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ | 2.2GHz | 512KBx2 | $240* |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 | 2.13GHz | 2MB | $224 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 | 1.86GHz | 2MB | $183 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | 2.0GHz | 512KBx2 | $169* |
| Intel Pentium D 945 | 3.40GHz | 2MBx2 | $163 |
| Intel Pentium D 915 | 2.80GHz | 2MBx2 | $133 |
| Intel Pentium D 820 | 2.80GHz | 1MBx2 | $113 |
| Intel Pentium D 805 | 2.66GHz | 1MBx2 | $93 |
*Note: The AMD prices are still rumored. We're waiting for final confirmation from AMD for accuracy.
Based on these prices, AMD's Athlon 64 X2 4600+ would have to beat Intel's E6600, the 4200+ would have to beat the E6400 and the X2 3800+ would have to be somewhere in between the performance of a Pentium D 940/945 and an E6300.
We're getting the impression that AMD may be cutting prices more than what we've seen here, but we have no idea to what degree yet. By the end of this year AMD will also offer higher clock speeds as well as its new 4x4 platform (dual socket, dual core desktop Athlon 64 FX motherboards), but that's all we can expect for the foreseeable future.
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Gary Key - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
The first nF4 Intel Edition boards will be available the week of 7/20. The nForce 500 boards for Intel will not be available until early August. We are now under NDA for the nForce 500 until NVIDIA makes their release announcement. However, there are a couple of nForce 500 boards that look very promising at this time. Do not expect high FSB overclocking results until NVIDIA's next chipset but overall performance is very good at this time.mobutu - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Thank you very much for the info you shared.Still, one more question: what do you mean "nVidia next chipset"? Like nF6 or smtg? Because if so it means probably Q4 2006 or Q1 2007 ...
Gary Key - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
The one that will come out this winter that we cannot discuss except for the fact that it will be a single chip and dual x16 capable. :) Of course, no real mention of it so far but ATI has a really nice Intel chipset due in late August to early September followed up by a refresh in the winter also.mobutu - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Oh, I got it. Thank you very much, much appreciated.Looking forward to see Anandtech review of Conroe motherboards.
Visual - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
you really need to include scores for 4ghz conroes, and maybe some 3.2ghz x2s(though this isnt really needed) and your review will be the most perfectest one evar!JarredWalton - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
We generally reserve overclocking scores for articles specifically looking at that aspect. It's unfair to include OC'ed Core 2 without OC'ed X2, FX, etc. I hope to get a Core 2 in the near future to run some specific OC benchmarks comparing a lower end (E6300 and/or E6600) Core 2 with X2 3800+ (hopefully EE, but we'll see).junior1 - Saturday, July 15, 2006 - link
Jarred that would be great to see. The E6300 and X2 3800+ seem close, but the final AMD pricing and the overclocking potential of each could really make either the clear winner for performance per dollar in the midrange segment.
Is the die size smaller on E6300 and E6400, or is it a full die with half the cache disabled? Any chance the smaller cache means better OC potential?
It would be great to see results with several chipsets.
Warder45 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
awww. At least give us a taste, maybe 2 or 3 of the most CPU intensive tests run at 4ghz.Gary Key - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Just wait a few days.... :)mendocinosummit - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Ya, that is what I was hoping for. I want to see a dual core (that has some balls, unlike the preslers) run at 4ghz and do some benchmarks