Hi,

I am looking to buy a new computer and I have to choose between two configurations which differ only in the motherboard/processor. They are both at excellent value with a similar price tag - the Intel E6400 is £20 cheaper than the Athlon 5600+.

Which one should I go for? I have searched the internet for benchmarks but can't reach a definite conclusion, so I would appreciate any help here

Are there any issues specific to Linux that I should be aware of? Which processor has more applications taking advantage of the architecture to make it a worthwhile purchase?

Note that I will probably not overclock it.

Many thanks in advance

Just my 2 cents here but I have found that AMD processors tend to be better than Intel. They just seem to run better and faster.

Depends if you want to overclock. If you do, you'll probably get more out of the E6400. If not, that 5600+ is £20 more for a reason.

The 5600+ outperforms the E6400 in most benchmarks:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.ht...=696&chart=166

Thanks hacker supreme and StringCheesian.

StringCheesian, that was a wonderful link, thanks! You are right, the Athlon 64 X2 5600+ wins in most benchmarks. The only ones that the Core 2 Duo E6400 wins are (with the winning margin):

• Call of Duty 2 (7.8%)
• Divx 6.2.2 (1.8%)
• Ogg 1.1.0 (21.1%)
• Photoshop CS 2/Rendering (5.5%)
• Price/Performance Index (32.5%)
• SiSoftware Sandra 2007 Multimedia Integer (55.3%)
• SiSoftware Sandra 2007 Multimedia Floating Point (9.6%)
• Xvid 1.1.0 (3.4%)

The Athlon wins in about 27 tests I think, but I did not calculate by what margin though.

I may well go and buy the Athlon 64 X2 5600+ system now, but I just want to see at what kind of similar applications do the 2 huge wins of the E6400 above occur, namely:

• Ogg 1.1.0 (21.1%)
• SiSoftware Sandra 2007 Multimedia Integer (55.3%)

I have omitted the Price/Performance Index win (32.5%) because it is irrelevant since both systems are priced similarly.

Anyone can help me with that please?

Many thanks!

OK, one final thought before I press the buy button! Is it not a disadvantage to purchase the 5600+ since there will be only one processor better than it ever in its compatible line of CPUs (even in the future) whereas the E6400 already has a number of CPUs up the ladder of its architecture?

whilst you prevaricate, both chips are approaching their obsolescence. flip a coin. both cpus will do adequately well for their planned lifetime.