Reviewed by
Matthew Elliott
Review date: 07/13/06
Release date: 07/13/06
You will need to excuse Intel if it's seen gloating over its new Core 2 Duo processors. Ever since dual-core desktop processors arrived on the scene last year, Intel has taken a backseat to rival AMD. Our own tests proved it, and it wasn't hard to find other Web sites reporting the same thing: the Athlon 64 X2 chips were clearly superior to Intel's Pentium D 800- and 900-series chips. Well, AMD's dominating run has come to a screeching halt with today's release of the Intel Core 2 Duo processors.
We've tested the top two chips, the 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 and the 2.67GHz Core 2 Duo E6700, and were blown away by the performance they turned in. Rounding out the line are the 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo E6600 ($316), the 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo E6400 ($224), and the 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo E6200 ($183). Like the top two chips, the E6600 features 4MB of unified L2 cache; the bottom two chips serve up a single 2MB block. All five chips feature a 1,066MHz frontside bus and operate on the Socket LGA775 interface.
The $530 Core 2 Duo E6700 looks especially sweet; it won our Editors' Choice award for delivering near the performance of the $999 Extreme X6800 for roughly half the cost. Compared to AMD's Athlon 64 FX-62, the Core 2 Duo E6700 turned in better or near equal results on all of CNET Labs' benchmarks. AMD price cuts are expected soon (we'll update this page accordingly once they are announced), but for now, the E6700 offers the best price-performance ratio of any desktop chip on the market.
Core 2 Duo should also put to rest another criticism lobbied against Intel: that its chips are power-hungry, heat-generating behemoths. System builders had to go to great lengths--more cooling fans, larger heat sinks--to keep the chips safely running. Borrowing from Intel's laptop chips, the Core 2 Duo desktop processors require less power to run and, therefore, put out less heat. You can read more about the improved thermals in either of the full reviews, where you'll also find performance charts that show how the Core 2 Extreme X6800 and the Core 2 Duo E6700 stack up against AMD's two top chips, the Athlon 64 FX-62 and the Athlon 64 X2 5000+.
We expect to see similar performance from the three chips we've yet to test and review. We'd be surprised to see much of a gap in performance between the E6700 and the E6600, since the only difference between the two is clock speed. There might be a bigger jump down in performance when you go from the E6600 to the E6400, because not only is the lower-end chip clocked slower, but it also features half the L2 cache. We expect to test these other three chips soon to give you the full rundown of the entire Core 2 Duo family. But if the first two chips are any indication, any of the Core 2 Duo processors will be an attractive option next time you're in the market for a PC, regardless of your budget.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Awesome Performance For Value
As a longtime AMD fanboy and avid computer nut, I have built all of my systems for my office and ...
As a longtime AMD fanboy and avid computer nut, I have built all of my systems for my office and my home using one of AMD's products since 1999. From the 1700 to the Barton 2500 and 3200 and lately the X2 3800 and X2 4600, I have tried and used just about every major variant of AMD's products. I have always been impressed with their cost to performance and ability to obtain that extra performance from overclocking. After reading some of the earlier reviews of the Intel E series, I put together a system with a P5W DH Deluxe and the E6300. I now have this system running flat stable 24/7 at 2.92 gig. Even at default settings this chip gives both the 3800 and 4600 more than a run for the money. Overclocked, it just flat out leaves them in the dust. Video compiling and editing is done in half the time. And for gaming it is unreal. Intel has hid a home run with this line up.
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by mobo57 (see profile) -
August 28, 2006
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular value for money
for the price of $199 you can get a chip with the potential power of intel flapship the e6800. The $...
for the price of $199 you can get a chip with the potential power of intel flapship the e6800. The $199 e6300 can be overclocked to around 3.4ghz, and this is on stock cooling alone.The one weekenes that this chip as is that it only has 2mb cach.The e6300 is at the lowest end of intel new cpu line up and yet it seems to outprofrom all of intel privious generation of cpu and manage to cut your electric bill at the same time.
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by juniordemouse (see profile) -
August 27, 2006
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Best bang for buck for years
You really can not go wrong with this processor. They are very overclockable and review after review all over the ...
You really can not go wrong with this processor. They are very overclockable and review after review all over the internet has well and truly given the performance crown back to Intel after AMD had been the Daddy for the last couple of years. Pair this processor with with a descent 965 chipset based board and some reasonable PC2-6400 Ram and you can easily get an AMD FX62 beater for a quarter of the price.
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by TenFezToOne (see profile) -
August 27, 2006
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Spectacular CPU
Even the 'lowly' E6300 is a monster of a CPU. The overclocking headroom of this processor is unbelievable. Mine is ...
Even the 'lowly' E6300 is a monster of a CPU. The overclocking headroom of this processor is unbelievable. Mine is purring along at 3+ GHz without breaking a sweat. No real need to buy a E6600 or E6700 unless you really need the 4MB L2 cache. This is the most back for your buck CPU.
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by Arne (see profile) -
October 2, 2007
10 out of 10 - Perfect E6300 Redundancy Legacy
I have used Apple Macs in the past and have always believed them to have the best HCI rating..until ...
I have used Apple Macs in the past and have always believed them to have the best HCI rating..until now. Intel's boast of 'unbelievable system responsiveness' is not just hype. Using the PC (especially running Vista), like Macs, you forget your worries and your dreams run uninterrupted into what I can only call 'creativity'. This would be normal for a Mac but not for previous-gen PCs. I was initially worried I had bought too low a model (E6300) but thinking about it I realised (to quote a forum post) "nothing beats a Core 2 except another Core 2" - to worry about speed differences at this level is silly. Get one.
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by Nthooze (see profile) -
March 5, 2007
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Best CPU going at the moment
Intel is back on top (at least temporarily) with the new E6300 chip. You'll get a great preformer that ...
Intel is back on top (at least temporarily) with the new E6300 chip. You'll get a great preformer that works for gaming and anything else that you can throw at it. There is really nothing negative that you can say about this - it's perfect for the price. Need more performance - check out the rest of the Core 2 Duo line.
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by AidanK (see profile) -
January 10, 2007
5 out of 10 - Average ITS A DOG
the numbers don't lie...in a side by side comparison against an AMD Athlon64 x2 3800+ the Athlon ran ...
the numbers don't lie...in a side by side comparison against an AMD Athlon64 x2 3800+ the Athlon ran circles around the Core 2 duo. It was visibly, and obviously slower! The tests just proved what we already knew! It's a dog, and Intel is resting on their laurels. Save your money, buy AMD, You'll have a faster computer and more money in your pocket!
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by chrisk1965 (see profile) -
August 24, 2006
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