Manufacturer: Intel/AMD Price: $ 100 US Author: Steve Editor: Kylie Perrin Date: 01/24/2010

[ Introduction ]

Today we are throwing the new Intel Pentium G6950 processor head to head with the AMD Phenom II X2 550. Although both are dual-core processors priced at just $100 US, that is where the similarities stop, as these are two very unique processors. For this reason we are interested to learn how they compare in a number of tests… When we first reviewed the AMD Phenom II X2 550 processor back in May 2009, we suggested that it was the best dual-core processor money could buy, and at just $100 US on launch day it did not take a great deal of money to own one. Since then AMD has not released a faster Phenom II X2 processor, though they do plan to release the Phenom II X2 555 very soon. Therefore the Phenom II X2 550 has remained AMD’s flagship dual-core processor for about 8 months now. Until recently Intel has had nothing to counter the Phenom II X2 550 with, as the Core 2 Duo E6000 and E7000 series processors are no match, while the E8000 series is far too expensive. Recently Intel did launch a new batch of high-performance dual-core processors in the form of the Core i5 600 and Core i3 500 series. The Core i5 650 is the cheapest processor of its series, though at $195 US it is considerably more expensive than the Phenom II X2 550. Then there is the Core i3 530, which is the cheapest processor in its series, though again at $125 US it is more expensive than AMD’s dual-core flagship processor. There is however one more new Intel dual-core processor, known as the Pentium G6950 which is priced at $100 US. This means the Pentium G6950 is in essence Intel’s answer to the Phenom II X2 550, but can their slowest and cheapest dual-core processor defeat AMD’s most expensive and fastest? The Phenom II X2 550 really is an impressive processor because other than losing a pair of cores, it is identical to the Phenom II X4 955 processor in every single way. The Pentium G6950 on the other hand is a cut-down version of a processor, which is a cut-down version of another processor. Starting with the Core i5-600 series, we have processors ranging from 3.20 – 3.46GHz in frequency with Turbo Mode and a 4MB L3 cache. The next step down takes us to the Core i3 500 series, which includes processors operating at 2.93GHz and 3.06GHz without Turbo Mode, while the L3 cache capacity is still 4MB. Then we have the lone Pentium G6950 which operates at 2.80GHz without Turbo Mode and with a smaller 3MB L3 cache. The memory speed has also been dropped from the 1333MHz of the Core i5/i3 processors to just 1066MHz. However other than these few changes the Pentium G6950 is essentially the same as a Core i3 processor, and clock for clock there should not be a great deal of difference between them in terms of performance. Rather than test these processors on high-end AMD and Intel motherboards that cost upwards of $200 US, we are comparing them on motherboards you are more likely to use them on. This means for AMD the affordable ASUS M4A785T-M/CSM motherboard featuring the AMD 785G with a price tag of $85 US. Representing Intel we have the Gigabyte H55M-UD2H which is priced at $100 US.

Table of Contents >>> Introduction <<< Test System Specs & Power Consumption Memory Bandwidth Performance Synthetic Performance Application Performance Encoding Performance Gaming Performance Conclusion Next Page ->

xuser Unregistered

#102 Posted on: 03/11/2010 04:03 PM I think the AMD does a pretty good job in the Far Cry 2 test, since Far Cry 2 is Intel-optimized. The same goes for Everest.

ProX Unregistered

#103 Posted on: 03/11/2010 10:44 PM Funny that isn’t it how guys cry about Far Cry 2 being optimized for Intel yet AMD receive one of their best gaming results with it. As for Everest how is that Intel optimized, that’s news to me? It has been used to measure memory bandwidth and shows the exact same results are SiSoft, let me guess that’s Intel optimized as well?

Chris Unregistered

#248 Posted on: 04/14/2010 12:34 PM forleg what are you smoking? That made no sense, I just don't think you understood what you were reading.

Steve Administrator Posts: 53 Joined: 2010-02-08

#249 Posted on: 04/14/2010 12:42 PM @forleg - You have got to be joking. Are you serious? You are trying to tell me no tech site highlights the fact that AMD offers a more flexible upgrade path with their AM3 processors which are backwards compatible with AM2 and AM2+ motherboards. I like how you have taken the time to post a rather lengthy comment yet you clearly did not read the review. Here is a quote from the conclusion... “For those already in possession of an older AM2/AM2+ motherboard who are seeking a cheap processor upgrade, the Phenom II X2 550 will be the way to go. However, should you be building a new computer from scratch we suggest going with the Intel Pentium G6950 processor.” Pretty much says it all really but I would just like to add ... while you are at it trying to spread crap about sites being bias towards Intel I would just like to point out that we do not even work with Intel, they do not support us in most of our reviews where as AMD does with loads of review samples. That said we have no interest in favoring any company in our reviews.

forleg Unregistered

#247 Posted on: 04/14/2010 08:25 AM I do not see this review to be a good advice to the majority of the consumer conscious people in the world. Most, or all tech review sites in the world, do exist to help the manufacturers to sell more and more and more, using all imaginable persuasive technicals to lure to consumer to buy. The key conclusion in this review, is that the two cpu's are neck to neck. Now I ask: What does that matter? Let me explain my point. Personal computers are trivial machines, and many families have 2, 3 or more, at home, today. To keep a balanced computer power at home, by certain time it's necessary to swap components, oldest pieces may be deprecated, and some new pieces would need to be bought. Rarely one would have to buy a completely new machine. Now, let's look at the disgrace of a family that has today 4 Intel socket 775 at home, with cpus like celerons, Pentiums and core2duo. How much will they need to spent to update today, and become a little beat future proof? How many CPU's, memory and mobos will they need to buy? Now lets see the same example of that family, if they had instead gone for the AMD brand. Most probable, all they would have to buy today, would be 1 or 2 cpu's. This is the kind of reality that makes a huge difference in a family budget, but we never see it highlighted in any tech review. Maybe due to the financial power Intel is able to spread everywhere.

Code M Unregistered

#370 Posted on: 06/16/2010 06:00 AM Intel is overrated and manipulates the market way too much. AMD is the way to go as the performance gap is trivial and the performance from AMD is way good. Interesting how this article favors Intel over AMD, and it's so obvious as you overclocked the Pentium and included benchmarks for it yet fail to mention that the 550 callisto can successfully be unlocked to a 4 core CPU. Neither did you include any CC benchmarks for the 550. Shame on you! If that isn't favoritism I don't know what is.

Webmaster Unregistered

#374 Posted on: 06/17/2010 08:16 AM @ Code M - hahaha shame on you for being such an obvious and idiotic fan boy! For god’s sake let them have an opinion. If they are not favoring AMD they are favoring Intel, if they are not favoring ATI they are favoring Nvidia. Seriously grow up and get over it, they have to come to a conclusion based on their findings and this time around I think it was fair enough.