Intel je s arhitekturom nove generacije napravio korak, zapravo skok u pravom smjeru što je vjerojatno palo na pamet i dizajnerima koji su smislili aktualni Intelov logo sa sloganom "Leap Ahead". Povratak na efikasnu arhitekturu s kratkim pipelineom, veća superskalarnost (mogućnost obrade više instrukcija u jednom taktu), dinamički L2 cache dijeljen između jezgri te brojni novi algoritmi za manipulaciju podacima, donijeli su krunu performansi x86 procesora ponovo u Intelove ruke. Ruku na srce, performanse Core 2 procesora su toliko dobre da je isprva pomalo teško vjerovati u rezultate testa s obzirom dosadašnji odnos snaga između AMD-a i Intela. Srećom, to se nije negativno odrazilo na potrošnju procesora koja je vrlo niska, čak i usporedbi s AMD-ovim procesorima.

Intel je svjestan da je Core 2 Extreme X6800 najbrži x86 procesor na tržištu, pa je njegova cijena osjetno viša u odnosu model E6700 (drugi najsnažniji Core 2 procesor), ali i u odnosu na Athlon 64 FX-62. Cijena ostalih modela je u prosjeku veća od cijene AMD-ovih procesora, no Intelovi procesori su brži što kompenzira razliku. Ono što Intelu nedostaje je donji segment s obzirom da je najjeftiniji Core 2 procesor i dalje skuplji od Athlona 64 X2 4200+, s tim da se ispod njega nalaze još modeli 4000+, 3800+, a prilično skoro i 3600+. Tko zna, možda Intel uskoro predstavi low-end verziju Core 2 procesora (nekako sumnjamo da će se zvati Celeron II)?

Nažalost, za Intelove nove zvijeri najvjerojatnije ćete morati kupiti novu ploču s obzirom da ga podržavaju samo najnoviji čipseti ili pak najnovije ploče (kad je riječ o pločama baziranim na i975X čipsetu). Također, ako ste do sada koristili DDR memoriju, ne gine vam kupovina DDR2 memorije s obzirom da ne postoji čipset s podrškom za Core 2 procesor i stari DDR. Isti problemi su dakako prisutni ako razmišljate o AMD-ovoj Socket AM2 platformi, no ona je ionako sada puno manje atraktivna s obzirom na performanse i mogućnosti Core 2 procesora.

Na kraju treba reći da ćete vjerojatno najbolje proći ako ste vlasnik kakve starije Socket 939 konfiguracije. Uz velik pad cijena AMD-ovih procesora bez problema možete nadograditi svoj sistem kakvim dvojezgrenim procesorom bez dodatnih ulaganja u novu matičnu ploču ili memoriju.

Conclusion in english

With new Core Microarchitecture Intel undoubtedly made a step, better said jump in the right direction. Same thought was probably in mind of marketing folk who invented current Intel’s slogan – "Leap Ahead". Return to efficient architecture with short pipeline, greater superscalarness (abiltiy to compute more instructions in one clock cycle), dynamic L2 cache shared by two or more cores and new performance oriented data fetching algorithms, brougth x86 CPU performance crown back in Intel’s hands. Truth to speak, performance of new Core 2 CPUs are so good that we hard time believing the numbers that poped up during our tests, especially if we take into consideration past balance of power between AMD and Intel CPUs. Luckily, good performance had no negative impact on power compsumption of new CPUs which is quite low, even in comparison with AMD CPUs.

Intel is well aware that Core 2 Extreme X6800 is the fastest x86 CPU on the market so its price is much higher than price of model E6700 (second most powerfull Core 2 CPU) and even AMD’s Athlon 64 FX-62. Prices of all other models are in general higher than those of AMD CPUs. Of course, Core 2 CPUs have better performanse so that pretty hammers out the difference in price. One thing that Intel is missing in the current line up are low-end CPUs because Athlon 64 4200+ is still cheaper than cheapest Core 2 (E6300) and besides that, AMD has even more cheaper dual-core CPUs like 4000+, 3800+ and pretty soon 3600+. But who knows, maybe Intel will soon release a low-end version of Core 2 CPUs (we seriously doubt that those CPUs will be called Celeron II)?

Unfortunately, for new Intel beasts you will probably have to buy a brand new motherboard because new CPU is supported only by new chipsets and/or new motheboards (if we are talking about i975X based motherboards). Also, if your are still using DDR memory, dishing out cash for DDR2 is unavoidable procedure because there are no motheboards which support both Core 2 and old DDR. Of course, AMD Socket AM2 platform is plagued by the same problem, but with Core 2 CPUs on the market, AMD’s platform is now much less attractive.

In the end, you will probably get the best deal if you are still using old Socket 939 platform. With these new price drops of AMD CPUs you can easily and cheaply upgrade your rig with a dual-core CPU without investing in a new motheboard or different type of system memory.