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AMD Athlon 64 x2 4200+ Dual-Core Processor

Wednesday, August 10th, 2005 | CPU Processor Reviews, Reviews

There is a lot of hype going on over the new breed of dual-core processors, but do they really offer the performance advantages they say they offer?

This is one of the cheapest of the models in the x2 range from AMD, so it will provide a good comparisson for making a good value purchase.

Dual-core processors essentially offer two cpu processors in one. In the same chip, you will find two cores (the brain part, if you like) and cache (very fast memory) for each one. They are all housed inside the same casing. By having two cores to do the work, you can theoretically get a lot more done.

At over $500 this chip is still not cheap. When I compare it to my favorite priced AMD Athlon 64 3000+ with Venice Core do I really think that 3 times the price will give me 3 times the performance.

As always my main focus is good value. I don’t have any money to burn, and it is always a factor in my purchasing decision. Although modern technologies and that kind of stuff are interesting and worth considering, I am looking for real world performance for my buck.

The main area where dual-core processors, like this one and ones from Intel is the area of multi-tasking. When running more than one program your operating system, usually Windows and the processor use some pretty cool tricks to allow you to use more than one program at the same time. By taking turns using the resources of the processor, two programs can run at the same time seamlessly.

With two processors the ability to do this becomes that much better. There is the ability to physically split up the tasks over the two cores inside.

So what difference is there in real world performance?

Well, not as much as I would have hoped. The actual increases in speed in general applications is noticable, overall, it’s not enough for my liking.

Straight CPU tests which stress the processor in applications and things which basically just require raw power from the CPU like video encoding show an increase in performance. Speeds for such applications show a 50% to 60% increase in performance and speed.

General applications and things you might use everyday also benefit from this, resulting in speed increases too, nearly as much as above.

However when it comes to gaming, the increase is not so great. The processor performs on the same level as the AMD Athlon 64 3000+ mentioned above. But for 3 times the price that is not too good.

I would hold off on the purchase of this chip as the price is still too high. If money is not the first thing on your mind then this lowest of the AMD range will certainly allow you to run more programs with more overhead and ability to multitask more, which is perfect for the office environment. Unfortunately it does not provide enough power for the buck for my liking, but if you want to stay with the times and be a little future-proof, go for this guy.

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