The Verdict
So then, the conclusion is often a little more complicated than expected. On one hand, price-performance wise AMD has a very exciting product here, and that has everything to do with pricing. Fact is, we took an Intel E8200 (2.67 GHz) processor that clock for clock seems to be a little faster than the 7750 BE (2.7 GHz) processor. Both are positioned really close though. However, for the E8200 processor you'll still need to cough up 169 USD which is over ~80 USD more expensive.
Alternatively the Core 2 Duo E7300 would be an option at 149 USD. AMD on the other hand will launch the standard Athlon X2 7550 processor at 79 USD and the Black Edition Athlon X2 7750 at 89 USD. Prices will be roughly the same in EUROs. And that's just an amazing price for this product.
So pennies for pennies the Athlon X2 series 7000 will be the winner here, as that is great value for money. What's so difficult then you ask? Well... this is performance introduced by Intel last year already. See, it's the fastest dual-core processor AMD now has on the market yet we've been seeing this performance level for over a year now. So from that point of view, AMD surely is delivering... but really late. In fact it might even be too late as honestly... who of you guys that are in the market for a PC / processor upgrade are still opting a dual-core processor? The world is moving onwards to quad-core processors and I believe that in 2009 quad-core processors will go mainstream massively.
That's the little brain-tickle that is bugging me. But heck, value wise, dual-core processors still offer you guys the best performance for your money, nobody will deny that. AMD brings a very interesting processor to the table, I'm not 100% sure if it'll be enough for you guys, but surely this is a great and fairly priced mid-range processor series.
So that's just really positive. What also really impressed me was unexpected, the ease in overclocking. As stated in our article, we used an uber low-end standard stock air cooler on the processor and still were able to clock it to 3200 / 3300 MHz. I would not be surprised to see many of you clock this puppy to 3.4 - 3.7 GHz fairly easy with nothing more than proper air cooling, and sure, that again brings more value to the table.
Though I am still a little dazed that this product was named Athlon X2 and not Phenom X2, as really... this is a two core Phenom processor. The only reason that I can think of for AMD making this choice is next months release of their Phenom II series processor, which will be an exciting release for sure. Perhaps they wanted to avoid confusion in Phenom X2 vs Phenom II branding.
None the less, with the Athlon X2 series 7000 AMD brings mature, stable and extremely affordable processors to the market. It'll be fast enough for most modern applications on a Vista platform, and as such comes very recommended. Also I just realized what an excellent and affordable processor this would be for a HTPC. Very nice.
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