AMD's dual core Opteron & Athlon 64 X2 - Server/Desktop Performance Preview

Gaming Performance

For the next year or two, games will continue to be mostly single threaded, meaning that alone, they get no performance benefit from being run on a dual core CPU.

It is important to note that the Athlon 64 X2 4400+ is already faster in games than Intel's fastest dual core solutions. With the X2 series, you don't necessarily have to give up much gaming performance in order to reap the benefits of dual core. On average, the Athlon 64 X2 4400+ provides around 90% of the gaming performance of the single core FX-55, while being cheaper and offering all of the benefits of a dual core CPU. The choice at this price point, even for gamers, is obvious.

Doom 3

In Doom 3, the Athlon 64 X2 4400+ gives you 91% of the performance of a FX-55, but with all of the benefits of dual core - not too shabby.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

In Splinter Cell, the X2 continues to offer around 90% of the performance of the single core Athlon 64 FX-55.

Half Life 2

The X2 gives us about 91% of the performance of the FX-55 in Half Life 2. The trend continues to look good for AMD.

Halo

Unreal Tournament 2004

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory