E6600 vs 5200 X2

vanka

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Apr 27, 2006
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My brother-in-law wants to buy an HP (I know building your own is better but he wants Costco's return policy) and he has a choice of an E6600 (@ 2.4) or a 5200 X2 (@ 2.6 and $50-100 cheaper). They are identical in all respects except CPU, which one would you recommend. At first I recommended the Core 2, but when I saw that the X2 has a higher MHz and cheaper I'm not sure anymore. What do you guys think?
 
well they both are very good proformers but the core 2 will be fast. (it beats a fx 62 in most cases) so if its worth another 100 dollars then tell him to get that but its not that huge of a diff for 100
 
You really can't use speeds of processors to determine which processor will perform better. When it comes down to the bottom, it all depends on the CPUs architecture.

Finally, Intel has caught up with the architecture and hence, surpassed AMD 😛
 
I am an amd fan and have always had an amd but this point in the game, CORE 2 Duo all the way. That conroe board will probably have a better upgradeability option as well since its running on newer technology and MIGHT remotely support quad core. That amd is definately limited to dual core only unless amd comes out with a quad core am2 which I dont think they will in the near future.

I own an AMD x2 and am wishing I had a Core 2...
 
We are talking about HP here, unless they are using 965 or 975x boards i really doubt that they can upgrade to QuadCore. Do you have model numbers?

Plan to get the computer and never change anything other then CPU or Memory. I would say get the AMD and use that extra 100 for something else. if you are going to buy at Costco is probably for home/office use.

When you get a Cosco System, you are normally looking for someone to yell at in case it fries, return & exchange. no hassles no diagnostics no forums.
 
Hi,
I've been building systems for many years and have been a tech since I was 13, and it has been my experience that Intel offers more stable system platforms. In the past 4 years I have owned or built 3 AMD systems that were all just a little bit off. Weird errors and odd shutdowns, you understand. On the other hand, this is my fourth Intel build and they always just work! If this system is for a non-tech user who wants a stable fast platform, my vote is for the C2D. On a side note, the C2D is wicked fast, my humble 6400 is making me very happy!

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the replies. I know that the Core 2 has a better arcitecture and is faster than comparable AMD models; the this is: the E6600 is Intel's 2nd best mainstream processor while the 5200 X2 is AMD's best mainstream processor. Now the Core 2 may be better than the X2, but does anyone know of any benchmarks that back this up?
 
Funny, I've always had issues with Intel stuff.

vanka - I'm an AMD guy telling you the E6600 is faster. That should be all the proof you need. Regardless, they're both excellent processors and very few people would use them to their ability (Well, until they load Vista and extra bloatware, anyway).