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AMD’s Integrated Gambit |
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690G Looks to be Better By Design |
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By Josh Walrath |
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Cost Analysis AMD sent the X2 5600+ processor bundled with the Asus M2A-VM 690G motherboard. For the Intel side they sent the E6420 and the Asus P5B-VM SE motherboard based on the G965. The review kit was assembled little while back, as we are now faced with faster and more inexpensive processors from Intel. The E6550 is clocked at 2.33 GHz vs. the E6420’s 2.13 GHz, but it also costs about $20 less at this time. To officially run this chip though, the new G33 based motherboards must be used (though some G965’s unofficially run at 1333 MHz FSB). The prices I have listed were found online on September 26, 2007. These prices are fairly representative of what can be found from a variety of retailers. All figures are in US dollars.
This combination uses the more basic 690G motherboard, but it still includes both the VGA and DVI outputs.
This combination uses the slightly higher end motherboard with HDMI output. On the Intel side we see something a bit different. None of the readily available Asus boards featuring the G965 and G33 chipsets had DVI or HDMI outputs. VGA is supported at this time in the majority of SKUs.
An $83 difference in base configurations between the AMD setup and the Intel is pretty “extreme”. Users give up a little bit of processor performance with the Intel machine, as well as the DVI port.
The E6550 is going to be slightly faster in most situations than the X2 5600+, but it is still $81 more expensive than the AMD solution. Again, users will give up DVI with the Intel based motherboard. So far I have only seen Gigabyte release a G33 based board with HDMI support, but still no DVI. When we look at the difference in price, it is pretty amazing that Intel is able to charge that much more overall for solutions that theoretically match the performance of the AMD platform.
System Setup As is
previously noted, on the AMD side I am using the Athlon 64 X2 5600+ and
Asus M2A VM. For the Intel system I am using the E6420 and the Asus
P5B-VM SE. Here are the common components: Seagate 7200.10 320 GB HD Toshiba DVD-ROM Thermaltake PurePower 600 Watt Power Supply Windows Vista 64 Catalyst 7.6 drivers from AMD Intel Vista 32 Media Driver 15.23 June, 2007 Micro ATX boards are typically highly integrated, so there is little need to add a lot of extraneous cards to the mix.
Next: Thermal and Power Analysis If you have found this article interesting or a great help, please donate to this site.
Copyright 1999-2007 PenStar Systems, LLC. |
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