French test 146 CPUs in 12 Benchmarks

This survey that represents the largest compilation of results ever presented on BeHardware.com, gives a good idea of developments since 2005, the date when the first dual core models were launched by AMD and Intel. Moving from the 90nm engraving that was used then to 65nm and then 45nm has allowed the two chip makers to move on to quad core models with availability at under 100 euros. Performances have increased by a factor of more than 4, while over the same period energy consumption has been well controlled, with, in particular, major efforts being made in idle.

Processors that were previously very high end, namely the Pentium EE 840 and 965, are now completely eclipsed with even the Celeron E1500 and E3200 doing better. The Core 2 X6800, best of the best in 2006, has been caught up by the Pentium E6500. On the AMD side you can also see that the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ doesn’t look so good compared to a “simple” Athlon II X2 240, while the Phenom X4 9950 has been overtaken by the Athlon II X4 620 now on sale at under €100!