Intel Core 2 CPUs Tested

The usual suspects like Tech Report, HardOCP and AnandTech have gotten their hands on Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme chips, the new Intel CPUs based on a brand new architecture. Intel is introducing five such CPUs, ranging in price from a $163 1.86Ghz Core 2 Duo E6300 to a $999 2.93ghz Core 2 Extreme X6800. Though HardOCP's tests don't show much difference between the top of line Core 2 and Athlon FX-62 CPUs, AnandTech and Tech Report are very impressed with Intel's latest.

After years of wandering in the wilderness, Intel has recaptured the desktop CPU performance title in dramatic fashion. Both the Core 2 Extreme X6800 and the Core 2 Duo E6700 easily outperform the Athlon 64 FX-62 across a range of applications—and the E6600 is right in the hunt, as well. Not only that, but the Core 2 processors showed no real weaknesses in our performance tests. (I would say that Core looks like a more balanced architecture than Netburst, but at this stage of the game, Netburst just seems slow almost across the board.) No matter what you're hoping to do with your PC, a Core 2 processor should be a very solid choice.