Power Consumption

To get a complete picture we also measured the power consumption of our test platforms (without monitor) built around the participating processors working at their nominal speeds. The systems were configured exactly the same way as during performance tests. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep and Cool’n’Quiet 2.0 power-saving technologies were activated. Processors were loaded using Prime95 25.5 utility.

As we have expected, triple-core processors turned out more economical than their quad-core counterparts thanks to fewer cores. Besides, they boast lower power consumption than dual-core Athlon 64 X2 thanks to not very high clock speeds. However, from the economical standpoint new Phenom X3 family still fails to compete with Intel processors.