X2 4200+ or Core 2 Duo ....

[maroon1]

If he's not going to overclock then the 4200 X2 is fine and would beat the E4300.

Just look at the benchmark you posted, the 4200+ X2 doesn't beat E4300, even without overclocking.

But I agree that 4200+ is better for the price

 

[apdrummer]

Oopsies, my fault I read the first few benchmarks and figured there wasn't any hope... guess not! (now that I read the entire thing lol, I apoligize) The E4300 does offer some large performance increases over the 4200 in a few games, though they were pretty close in others. The 4200 is cheaper by a good $60 dollars so If your overclocking go E4300 if not, both would be a good choice. (that is my final answer and I will attempt to restrain myself from any further comment, for better or worse)

 

[Meithan]

I'm not degrading the X2 at all I was merely displaying info about the c2d since most of the people who posted seemed to be recommending the X2.

Yeah, it's usually quite the opposite: people usually scream "core 2 duo!!".

As for Meithan, a 70% performance gain is enormous, absolutely behemoth and I don't know where you got that number.

It is behemoth, that was my point. The 70% increase in performance that I mentioned is based on the price difference ($70) between the E4300 and the X2 4200+: since the Allendale is 70% more expensive, it should naturally be 70% more powerful. If not, then the Athlon has a better performance/price ratio.

the E4300 seems to be designed around maximizing overclockability and can easily get the 70% performance gain if you include that.

Yeah, as the article proves, you can squeeze even 100% more performance out of the E4300 - and it remains stable! These chips sure are monster overclockers. I think Intel didn't plan it, though, but it sure came out very nice.

However, it's still unfair to compare a fully overclocked E4300 to a stock X2 4200+. I seriously doubt the Athlon can be overclocked that far, but consider it already has a decent head start in price. This means the Athlon can stay competitive with even a small overclock.

If he's not going to overclock then the 4200 X2 is fine and would beat the E4300.

I agree 100%. If he's overclocking, on the other hand, it depends on what he wants: if it's rough power, then the Core 2 Duo line is the way to go; if it's bang-for-the-buck, then the Athlons are a better choice, at least in the under-$200 price range.