We will be benchmarking the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 against Intel and AMD’s most recent Dual-Core solutions. Intel’s line of processors will include their Core 2 LGA 775 processors while for AMD we will have their Athlon 64 X2 and Athlon 64 FX AM2 processors. All processors we are benchmarking today use DDR-2 memory.

This table displays the characteristics of the CPUs we will be benchmarking with:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 processors are available in a number of different frequncies. Currently, they range from 2 to 2.6 GHz. For most models, each core has a separate cache of 512 KB, however, for the Athlon 64 X2 5200+ and Athlon 64 FX-62, 1 MB of cache is integrated into each core. All of the processors have a declared TDP of 89 watts except for the Athlon 64 FX-62 which has a TDP of 125 watts.

The L2 cache, TDP, and clock frequency are in fact the only architectural differences between the AMD processors we are benchmarking today. They are all derived from the same dual-core architecture and are all constructed under a 90nm manufacturing process with SOI technology (Silicon on Insulator).

Moving on to the Intel solutions, we find that they all use the Intel Core 2 architecture. This is the same architecture which Intel introduced back in July of this year. All of these processors have a FSB of 1066 MHz. It is important to remember that AMD internally connects their components using HyperTransport technology in place of Front Side Bus. HypterTransport has a speed of 1,000 MHz (2,000 effective since there are two clocks). The base frequency for HyperTransport is 200MHz.