X-bit labs

Contemporary Dual-Core Processors Shootout (page 4)

Category: CPU

by Ilya Gavrichenkov

[ 01/30/2008 | 02:33 PM ]

3D Games

The processors performance in gaming applications appears even more illustrative. Wolfdale CPUs on 45nm cores look like the solutions from far away future here, because the gap between them and other solutions from the Core 2 Duo family is really impressive. However, it is not surprising at all, because L2 cache memory has very big influence on gaming performance. Core 2 Duo E8000 is the only series that boasts 6MB L2 cache, all the other Core 2 Duo processors have 2MB or smaller L2 cache. That is why Celeron E1200 doesn’t look too good against its fellows’ background: Intel cut down all the possible specifications of this processor including the L2 cache.

As for the good old Athlon 64 X2, they certainly cannot compete against the flagship dual-core Intel solutions. However, they performed pretty well against Core 2 Duo E4000. Three processors models with 5600+, 6000+ and 6400+ ratings managed to outperform Core 2 Duo E4600.