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In the test 15 years ago: Intel's Core 2 Duo E6600 and E6700 did away with AMD

After ComputerBase tested the Core 2 Extreme X6800 in July 2006 before the official market launch (in the test 15 years ago), two followed a little later with the Core 2 Duo E6600 and E6700 (test) inexpensive alternatives. Despite the comparatively low price, they were able to outperform AMD's fastest CPUs in the test.

Table of contents

  1. 1 Almost 300 US dollars for the Core 2 Duo E6600
  2. A lot of performance for little money
  3. Conclusion

Almost 300 US dollars for the Core 2 Duo E6600

The differences between the top model Core 2 Extreme X6800 and the Core 2 Duo E6600/E6700 were limited to the clock rate and the price. While the X6800 clocked at 2.93 GHz, the E6700 clocked at 2.66 GHz and the E6600 at 2.4 GHz. Wholesale prices in July 2006 were $ 999 for the top model, $ 530 for the E6700, and $ 316 for the E6600. The Extreme version of the X6800 had another special feature: users could freely set the multiplier in the BIOS (between 6 and 60), which made it easier to overclock than the remaining Core 2 Duo, which had the “Front Side Bus” (FSB) had to be overclocked.

The processors at a glance Features Core 2 Duo
Core 2 Extreme Pentium D 9xx,
Pentium – Extreme – Edition 9×5 Pentium D 8xx,
Pentium – Extreme – Edition 840 Pentium 4 6xx, – Pentium 4 – Extreme – Edition 3.73 Codename Conroe < br> Allendale Presler Smithfield Prescott 2M clock speed or
model number
(clock in GHz) E6300 (1.86)
E6400 (2.13)
E6600 (2.4)
E6700 ( 2.66)
X6800 (2.93) 920 (2.8)
930 (3.0)
940 (3.2)
950 (3.4)
960 (3.6)
XE955 (3.46)
XE965 (3.73) 820 (2.8)
830 (3.0)
840 (3.2)
EE840 (3.2) 630 (3.0)
640 (3.2)
650 (3.4)
660 (3.6)
670 (3.8)
EE 3733 MHz Manufacturing 65 nm 90 nm Socket Socket 775 Dual-Core ✓ – Multithreading – ✓ (XE only) ✓ Front side bus 1,066 MHz QDR 800 MHz QDR
1,066 MHz QDR 800 MHz QDR 800 MHz QDR
1,066 MHz QDR front side bus load 1 2 1 peripheral interface external controller memory controller external controller transistors 167 million
291 million 376 million 230 million 169 million chip size 111 mm²
143 mm² 162 mm² 206 mm² 135 mm² L1 execution cache 2 × 32 kbytes 2 × 12,000 µ-ops 12,000 µ-ops L1 data cache 2 × 32 kbytes 2 × 16 kbytes 16 kbytes L2 cache 1 × 2,048 kbytes < br> 1 × 4,096 kByte 2 × 2,048 kByte 2 × 1,024 kByte 2,048 kByte L2 connection 256 bit L2 mode L1 including cache a total of 2,048 kByte
4,096 kByte 4,096 kByte 2,048 kByte 1,024 kByte

A lot of performance for little money

In the benchmarks, the Core 2 Duo processors were operated on an Intel D975XBX with an i975X Express chipset and 2 × 512 MB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-12. A Gigabyte GeForce 7800 GT was used as the graphics card. Across all application scenarios, the E6600 was able to leave the AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 behind by 15 percent, the E6700 came in at a gap of 24 percent. The performance was particularly impressive since the Athlon 64 FX-60 (US $ 799) was AMD's second fastest processor – AMD did not want to provide the editors with the roughly 5 percent faster FX-62. For the Athlon 64 FX-62, the manufacturer announced a wholesale price of 1,031 US dollars. In response to the Core 2 Duo processors, however, he lowered the price significantly to US $ 799.

«Previous performance rating: Overall performance rating: Multimedia performance rating: Office performance rating: Packing performance rating: Rendering performance rating: Play next»

    • Core 2 Extreme X6800 DDR2-800 CL499,9
    • Core 2 Extreme X6800 DDR2-667 CL599.7
    • Core 2 Duo E6700 DDR2-800 CL490.8
    • Core 2 Duo E6600 DDR2-800 CL481 , 9
    • Pentium XE 965 S775 DDR2-800 CL468,4
    • Pentium XE 965 S775 DDR2-667 CL567,6
    • Pentium XE 955 S775 DDR2-667 CL562,7
    • Athlon 64 FX-60 S939 DDR400 CL261,6
    • Athlon 64 X2 5000+ SAM2 DDR2-800 CL461,6
    • Athlon 64 X2 5000+ SAM2 DDR2-667 CL561,5
    • Pentium D 960 S775 DDR2-667 CL559,3
    • Pentium XE 840 S775 DDR2-667 CL558,4
    • Athlon 64 X2 4800+ S939 DDR400 CL257,3
    • Athlon 64 X2 4600+ S939 DDR400 CL257,1
    • Athlon 64 X2 4600+ SAM2 DDR2-800 CL457,1
    • Pentium D 950 S775 DDR2-667 CL556,0
    • Pentium D 940 S775 DDR2-667 CL552,7
    • Athlon 64 X2 4400+ S939 DDR400 CL252,4
    • Athlon 64 X2 4200+ S939 DDR400 CL252,3
    • Athlon 64 X2 4200+ SAM2 DDR2-800 CL452,1
    • Pentium D 930 S775 DDR2-667 CL549,4
    • Athlon 64 X2 3800+ S939 DDR400 CL247,8
    • Athlon 64 X2 3800+ SAM2 DDR2-800 CL447.7
    • Pentium D 920 S775 DDR2-667 CL546.1
    • Pentium 4 670 S775 DDR2-667 CL539,5
    • Athlon 64 FX-57 S939 DDR400 CL235,9

Although the Core 2 Duo E6600/E6700 were very fast, the advantages strongly depended on the application scenario. The best case were rendering applications such as Cinema4D and Lightwave, in which the CPUs 33 and 47 percent respectively worked better than the Athlon 64 FX-60. In games, on the other hand, the lead was only 2 to 3 percent on average – the GeForce 7800 GT used was the limiting factor here.

Conclusion

If you wanted to build a system with Socket 775 in July 2006, you had two excellent processor options with the Core 2 Duo E6600 and E6700. In particular, the E6600, priced at just over $ 300, offered an attractive price-performance ratio. The additional investment in a Core 2 Extreme X6800 was usually not worthwhile – unless the focus was on maximum performance regardless of the price. Thanks to the massive price reductions that AMD made for the Athlon 64 CPUs, they offered an even more attractive price-performance ratio. For example, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ should retail for $ 149 instead of the previous $ 303.

In the “Test 15 years ago” category, the editorial team has been looking into the test archive every Saturday since July 2017. The last 20 articles that appeared in this series are listed below:

  • The absolute price-performance tip GeForce 7600 GST
  • The Core 2 Extreme X6800 outperformed them all
  • The Zalman VF-900 Cu dominated them all
  • Three GeForce 7950 GX2s from loud to fast
  • GeForce custom designs in extra fast and silent
  • The “Gamer Cube”, which only ventilated through the power supply
  • Nvidia's double decker alias GeForce 7950 GX2
  • Intel's Core 2 Duo E6700 shone in the preliminary test
  • Nvidia's nForce 500 for AMD's AM2 socket with DDR2 RAM
  • The best Radeon X1900 XTX came with a Zalman cooler
  • PCIe x8 versus PCIe x16 for multi-GPU systems
  • ATi's X1900 GT bit its teeth on Nvidia's 7900 GT
  • PhysX accelerator for 299 euros from Ageia
  • The GeForce 7600 GS was a stunner for 125 euros

    • < li> HTPC housing from Lian Li and Silverstone

  • The GeForce 7900 GTX in 90 nm and with a higher clock rate
  • Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi for more audio quality and FPS
  • Intel's Pentium EE 965 was faster and more economical
  • Silentwinter got the Athlon 64 going with RAM-OC
  • ATi's all-in-wonder Radeons with TV tuner

Even more content of this kind and many more reports and anecdotes can be found in the retro corner of the Compute forum rBase.

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