AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+: Competing with Aggressive Pricing
by Anand Lal Shimpi on February 20, 2007 3:37 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Photo Processing Performance
We turned to the Retouch Artists Photoshop Speed Test for measuring CPU performance in Adobe's Photoshop CS3 beta. The benchmark applies a number of actions to a test image while we measure the total time elapsed during the active portion of the test. We report results in seconds, with lower scores denoting higher performance.
We set history states to 1 and cache levels to 4; CS3 was configured to make use of all available system memory.
Performance under Adobe Photoshop CS3 is not a strong point for the Athlon 64 X2 lineup as even the X2 6000+ can barely outperform the Core 2 Duo E6400. The rest of the model numbers fall around the speed of Intel's E6300 or slower. If you're a Photoshop user, AMD won't be able to do it for you.
Our next test is one recommended by Intel, but the test itself appears to be fair as it is a simple task using one of Vista's built in applications: Windows Photo Gallery. This test simply measures the amount of time required to print four sheets of thumbnails; of course we don't measure actual printing time, rather the benchmark exports the pictures to an Excel spreadsheet. Time is measured in seconds, with lower times resulting in better performance:
Although vastly different in usage pattern and purpose, the Windows Photo Gallery benchmark actually gave us results very similar to the CS3 benchmark. We suspect that the nature of these benchmarks tends to favor the notably faster SSE performance of the Core 2 processors, but if that's the case we may see the tables turn once AMD introduces Barcelona.
Finally we have a benchmark that was one of the first tests AMD sent around a while back to showcase what 64-bit processors could do for performance. The application is called the Panorama Factory and it is used to stitch together multiple digital pictures in order to make one larger picture, or a panorama. The stitching process can be quite CPU intensive so we used the benchmark to stitch together 10 6MP images of a room and reported the total process time:
Performance is pretty evenly split here between the two processor families. The E6700 is as fast as the X2 6000+, the E6600 and 5600+ are pretty close as are the E6400 and 5000+.
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leexgx - Thursday, April 19, 2007 - link
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxeare you useing the older corsair XMS2 sticks 1.2v as i cant get my 2.1v sticks to even POST some times in my pc
allso this test is 2 months old other review good thing is your useing an 8800GTX to test the limits of the CPU, other web site was still useing and ATI X1950 and fiding that thay was GPU limted (dono why thay still bother testing them with that x1950 as the test will be GPU limted not CPU)
photoguy99 - Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - link
I've been critical of AMD's chances, but they do have a shot - The problem is their chance to catch up depends on Intel slipping up.AMD needs a perfect storm to happen:
1) Barcelona needs re-capture performance/watt leadership
2) Barcelona neees to re-capture performance/watt be damned leadership
3) Barcelone needs to ship in big quantity during calendar Q3 07
4) Intel needs to slip Penryn ramp up to Q2 08 and slip their next micro-architecture to 09
If any one of these doesn't happen it's going to be rough going.
yyrkoon - Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - link
Well, the big question, WHY Vista 64 bit ? The other question WHY AMD 6000 + ?For me, personally, testing on Vista 64bit, is a bit odd, and perhaps is used to confuse the real subject: Why pay a $200+ premium for a CPU (direct comparrison to the E6600), that only does better in video related applications ? Oh, and in case anyone is interrested, I am NOT a fan boy, but if I were to pick a preffered platform, it would be AMD / nVidia. Currently I'm using an AM2 system, with the best budget motherboard on the market period(this is my opinion of course: the ABIT NF-M2 nView).
Also. personally, I would have rather seen the data done in XP, because this would give us a real idea of how this CPU would compare to previous tests, and again, in my opinion, was very bad timing on anandtech's behalf if this was not intentional. I've done my own testing in Vista as well, so I KNOW pretty much where the performance differences lie, although I have not personally tested Ultimate 64bit. I, not unlike many others, will not see the need for Vista for at least a while longer, and Directx 10 games become mainstream . . . XP Pro performance data PLEASE!
The main reason that I havent moved to C2D, or intel as of yet, is simply, because of the motherboards availible for this platform, and I simply do NOT like what the Intel side of the camp is offering, period. Motherboard features / cost, is nearly the only thing keeping me from switching sides ATM, and I for the life of me, can not figure out how AMD gets off charging a $200 price premium for a CPU that isnt very good overall. Now, if some manufactuer, made a motherboard that was both attractive in features, and cost, I personaly think AMD would be in serious trouble, which would be very bad for everyone, not just AMD.
Based on these 'scores' you've given, I would think the CPU to buy from AMD would be the 5600+, and perhaps that what your conclusion said ? I wouldnt know, I make my own 'assumptions', based on the test data (IE, I didnt read the conclusion) ;)
DigitalFreak - Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - link
Thanks for the good laugh!yyrkoon - Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - link
You show me, a good C2D capable motherboard, for $80 usd, that is as feature rich as the AM2 ABIT NF-M2 nView, and perhaps I'll laugh with you. Until then, your comment isnt / wasnt even nessisary.strikeback03 - Thursday, February 22, 2007 - link
That $200 price premium on the AMD processor you mention plus your $80 motherboard budget will get you almost any board in the C2D camp.yyrkoon - Thursday, February 22, 2007 - link
Except, that you completely missed the whole point. $80 budget board, does NOT mean, someone is going to go out and purchase a sub $500 CPU for it, thats just silly. However, I also wouldnt stop them from upgrading to that CPU, when the prices drop over time. Also, not everyone wants SLI, or crossfire GPUs, so by the time, you find a board with as good features, be it i680, or one of the Intel chipsets, you gain, SLI, dual GbE, and a very good chance of other goodies, but you lose, integrated graphics, which if you're building a very low budget PC, this can save you a good amount of cash. Also, this motherboard will accept just about any aftermarket CPU cooler you could care to put on it, but honestly, IMO, this isnt a board I'd use to OC anyhow, but it will OC well compared to the cost you put into it.There are lots of motherboards out there, that have some very cool features, personally, I really, really like the Workstation line from Asus, 2x 16x PCIE, 2x 133 PCI-X, and 2x PCI 2.3, and I beleive they make them for either AM2, or C2D, but the plain simple fact of the matter is, they also cost more than $300, thats nearly as much as an E6600 . . .
Take a look at the $80, and under Intel CPU capable motherboards, and tell me you can find one that is as stable, with as many features as this one. Then realize just how many of those, actually supports C2D . . . Trust me, I've looked, because I really want to move away from AMD atm, but it does not make sense, if you have to compromise, on what you get stablity/support/feature wise.
defter - Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - link
New A64 6000+ actually performs slightly worse (loses more benchmarks) than E6600. However, A64 6000+ costs $459 while E6600 costs only $316. Worse performance for 45% higher price??? Is that a good deal? Reasonable price for A64 6000+ would be about $300.sprockkets - Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - link
That $102 dollar 3600 chip and a new AMD HDMI chipset or the Abit 6150 board. For more performance, sure, C2D, but hey, can't beat $102 for good dual core performance.I wonder how Fusion will push prices lower...
anandtech02148 - Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - link
At idle and load do these charst include 8800gtx power consumption too?Is this the whole system powerconsumption including the graphic card?
I thought 8800gtx power consumption alone is 245wtts.