Intel Single Core/Midrange CPUs
While AMD's single core chips are still reasonably attractive given the high prices of the X2 lineup, the same does not hold true for Intel. If you plan on spending anything more than $100 on an Intel chip, you should clearly be looking at the Pentium D lineup. AMD's Athlon 64 chips also have a definite advantage in terms of price/performance, with the single core 3800+ outperforming pretty much any of the Pentium 4 offerings. About the only reason we would even consider a Pentium 4 chip at this point in time would be as a replacement or upgrade on an older motherboard that can't support Pentium D. Even in that case, we would give serious thought towards upgrading to a new motherboard and CPU instead. Here's a quick look at the Pentium 4 prices. (Note that the Extreme models that show up in this case are actually single core + Hyper-Threading models -- not that we'd recommend them at current prices.)
Other than the Pentium 4 506, all of the Pentium 4 prices bottom out at around $150. The 506 is also limited by a slower front side bus, and it has the same clock speed of the dual core Pentium D 805. An extra $30 will basically double your theoretical computational performance. If you really need a Pentium 4 processor and you can't use (or don't want) Pentium D, the best price/performance option is the Pentium 4 541 [RTPE: BX80547PG3200EK], priced at $168 for the OEM version. If you need a retail processor, on the other hand, go for the Pentium 4 631 [RTPE: BX80552631] for $173. It has a slightly lower clock speed but comes with 2 MB of cache. Flip back to the Pentium D prices and you'll see why neither of these is a great buy -- you can basically get the second processor core for free!
While AMD's single core chips are still reasonably attractive given the high prices of the X2 lineup, the same does not hold true for Intel. If you plan on spending anything more than $100 on an Intel chip, you should clearly be looking at the Pentium D lineup. AMD's Athlon 64 chips also have a definite advantage in terms of price/performance, with the single core 3800+ outperforming pretty much any of the Pentium 4 offerings. About the only reason we would even consider a Pentium 4 chip at this point in time would be as a replacement or upgrade on an older motherboard that can't support Pentium D. Even in that case, we would give serious thought towards upgrading to a new motherboard and CPU instead. Here's a quick look at the Pentium 4 prices. (Note that the Extreme models that show up in this case are actually single core + Hyper-Threading models -- not that we'd recommend them at current prices.)
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GTVic - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
The 930 is the same except for double the cache. Why is it so much cheaper????Robberbaron12 - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
Intel are dumping the 65nm netburst processors as fast as possible, so thats why they are so cheap. The 90nm smithfields are now out of production all together except for the 805 (so I hear). I assume the 65nm netburst must be being shunted to the side to make room for all those Woodcrests and Conroes on the same production lines.JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I think Intel is probably about ready to halt all NetBurst production, and they have a ton of inventory to clear I would guess. Anyway, *all* of the Pentium D prices are quite nice. $140 for the 820 isn't bad either, as it will then get the faster FSB relative to the 805 for only $30 more. The 9xx series is good as well, but they all seem to OC into the 3.9-4.1 GHz range, so you might as well grab the cheapest one (930).eetnoyer - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
I doubt that Intel is "about ready" to stop producing netburst chips, considering that current predictions are for ~30% of shipments being C/M/W exiting the year. Unless, of course, they want to lose a bunch more market share. I'm more inclined to believe that they are flooding the market with cheap netburst chips in an attempt to hold unit share at any cost. Their gross margins for Q2 are going to be horrendous.By the way, would it be so hard to include clock speeds in these articles? The model numbers in many cases are almost meaningless to alot of people anymore, and will only get worse going forward. I'm pretty sure that the average reader here is more than capable of understanding the IPC differences.
bamacre - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I don't agree that the Pentium 805 is the most interesting Intel cpu, even with it's low price. The 940, which runs cooler and uses less power, is simply awesome at roughly $75 cheaper than the X2 3800+, and running very close to it's speeds in gaming, and beating it in almost everything else. Easily, IMO, the best bang for your buck dual core cpu.JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I don't know... overclocked 920 at 4.0 GHz doesn't match an overclocked X2 3800+ at 2.6 GHz, so at least to me AMD X2 still comes out ahead in gaming performance. However, price is definitely in favor of Intel right now. I guess "most interesting" is all a matter of personal preference - for some people, FX-62 and Core 2 Extreme are probably the "most interesting". :)JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I think single core will stick around, but all the 1024KB chips are going away. The question is whether Sempron chips are going to be different cores, or just Orleans with some of the L2 disabled. I wouldn't be surprised if AMD goes the disabled cache route.gerf - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
754 outlive 939? I remember some build reviews where 939 was only to be used because of "future upgrade choices." Ouch.What I wonder, is if my Averatec 6235's mobile A64 (754) can be swapped with a new Turion.
JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
Your best bet is to ask Averatec; there's a reasonable chance you will need a new BIOS version, but other than that it should be capable of supporting the Turion. Turion is also built using and 90 nm process where is the socket 754 Athlon 64 Mobile chips are 130 nm, so even at the same clock speed Turion should run cooler.gerf - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
Well, Averatec doesn't apparantly do bios updates. I'd have to check the chipset type, and find something more oem