X-bit labs

April Confrontation: AMD and Intel Start the Price War (page 8)

Category: CPU

by Ilya Gavrichenkov

[ 03/28/2007 | 05:18 PM ]

Price-to-Performance Ratio: Main Criterion for CPU Attractiveness

The diverse results obtained from our testing participants in different types of tasks will be primarily of interest to those users who work with their PC in narrowly specified application field. However, this type of users is definitely not a majority. Most users are looking for some “average” system performance index, because their interests may vary over time. That is why we decided to perform additional analysis and build an additional chart with average processor performance values. This parameter was calculated as the arithmetic mean of all normalized results obtained during our test session.

Note that since the performance ratio between CPUs on Intel Core, Intel NetBurst and AMD K8 micro-architecture doesn’t really differ that much in various types of applications, the integral value of average performance on the chart below serves as a great description of their actual performance level in most apps.

In fact, this chart allows us to evaluate how adequate the upcoming processor prices will be in April.

All in all, you can clearly see that the upcoming pricing corresponds very well to the average processor performance. Only Pentium D CPUs do not fit into the overall picture that well, because their new April prices seem to be a little bit too high and do not correspond to their level of performance.

In order to get a better idea of the new AMD and Intel price policy we would like to offer you another chart with both: CPU prices and their average performance level at the same time.

The diagram you have just seen gives you a better understanding of how beneficial this or that dual-core CPU would be after the companies’ price-lists have been corrected in April.

So, the fastest AMD CPU, Athlon 64 X2 6000+, can compete only with Core 2 Duo E6600, which is just a little bit faster. As a result, Core 2 Duo E6700 and more expensive solutions have every right to be considered the fastest CPUs at this time and most likely until AMD rolls out processor on new K8L micro-architecture.

However, AMD Company manages to create a few very attractive offerings that not only outperform Intel processors but also sell at a more attractive price. These are Athlon 64 X2 5600+ and Athlon 64 X2 5000+ on Windsor core, which will boast more attractive price-to-performance ratio than Core 2 Duo E6420 and E6320.

Core 2 Duo E4400 and E4300 look better than the competitors in the lower price range, despite their cut-down L2 cache and 800MHz bus: they will boast better performance than the rivals priced similarly. However, when it comes to the cheapest dual-core CPUs, AMD processors will retain their leadership being indisputably faster than the old-school Pentium D processors selling at the same price.