Intel's Core 2 Duo desktop processor range, formerly known as Conroe, is slowly winning over the benchmarking community as PCs using the chips are producing impressive results.
Intel will formally introduce the Core 2 Duo line on July 27 but various performance tests have already appeared in PC enthusiast websites and it seems they bear bad news for rivals, AMD. Intel Core 2 Duo systems have been consistently outperforming the best AMD has to offer and even the flagship Athlon 64 FX-62 has been outclassed by over 17 per cent.
What is even more worrying for AMD is that Intel's new chips are also very low priced compared to rival high-end chips. AMD announced, last month, sweeping price cuts for its full desktop range but they will still not be as cheap as Intel's offerings.
The Core 2 Duo range features the 1.86-GHz E6300 chip (USD 183) with 2MB of cache and goes all the way up to the 2.93-GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 chip (USD 999) with 4MB of cache. All chips have a 1066-MHz system bus. Another appealing aspect of the new chips is that they have been demonstrated to be surprisingly overclockable and in some cases the lower end chips can be pushed to such an extent that they compete with the higher-end models.
Intel Core 2 Duo chips are Socket 775 as were Pentium 4 and D processors but you will need a new motherboard to use them as they require a new chipset. Expect Intel Core 2 Duo systems from July 27 and we hear that some will be pleasantly priced.
