AMD has had a long rivalry with Intel and they have done quite well. They really took Intel by surprise when they released AMD Athlon 64 processors that outperformed their Intel counterparts in almost every category. That was probably AMD’s brightest moment. Unfortunately, since the release of the Athlon 64 processors, Intel has been producing better processors than AMD and the latter has found it difficult to keep up. They really caught Intel’s eye, so to speak.

In the dual core department, Intel’s Core2Duo’s have been reigning supreme with the AMD Athlon X2s following close behind. The same is true in the quad core department. Recently, however, AMD decided to get back at Intel by releasing the new Phenom II X2 processors which are based on their Phenom quad-core processors and are actually quad-core processors that have two of their cores disabled. They are also Black Edition processors which simply means they can be overclocked because they have unlocked multipliers. The question is, is it good? Can it really compete with Intel’s Core2Duo line of processors?

Both questions can be answered with a resounding yes. Finally, AMD has done something right and is on the right track to regain the top spot from Intel, but only in the dual-core category for now. In testing, the Intel Core2Duo processors put up a good fight and are still ahead of the AMD Phenom II X2 processors, but by smaller margins and if you add the fact that the Phenom II X2 processors cost around $60 minus ten , is really a no-brainer. .

Price aside, there are other departments where the Phenom II X2 processors have excelled. When overclocked, the Phenom II X2 processors stayed cool, which was a surprise considering AMD’s previous heat issues. Also, an AMD platform is more power efficient compared to an Intel platform by a full 65W under load. AMD scored big with this new offering that works well for enthusiasts on a budget, something AMD has long been known for. Only time will tell when they can start to compete with the other Intel processors.