First post, by Skyscraper
What if the Core 2 Duo had been a year late?
Would Intel just accepted beeing a second tier CPU maker or would they like AMD have done lately released higher clocked versions of their old design? Intel could have released faster Pentium D CPUs during 2006 as the D1 stepping of Presler easily clocked beyond 4.5 GHz at below 1.5V, the only issue would have been the 130-200W TDP.
They would likely increased the FSB from 200(800)MHz to 266(1066)Mhz like the Pentium D EE uses. If the Pentium D 955 EE is clocked at 3.46Ghz and the 965 EE is clocked at 3.73GHz then following Intels naming scheme a 4000 MHz Pentium D would have been the "Pentium D 975", 4266 MHz would have been the "Pentium D 985" and 4533 MHz would have been the "Pentium D 995".
This thread will be dedicated to finding out if Intel would have been totally screwed or if a faster Pentium D would have been an acceptable stopgap for another year.
The Pentium D 995. 17*266=4533 MHz, 4 MB cache, 1.45V (NO HT). The CPUs Im using for this test is a Pentium D 950 C1 3.4 GHz
The motherboard is my Gigabyte X48 DS4 but could just aswell have been an i975X board, the performance would have been the same.
The memory is 2x1 GB 1066 Mhz, I would have liked to run 533 MHz CL3-2-2-5 memory but this board needs "auto" straps and dividers.
The video card is a Geforce GTX 285 with a slight factory overclock.
1024*768 is used for screenshots, the system runs 1280*1024 75Hz the rest of the time.
Cooling used: (Intel) Thermalright Ultra-120, (AMD) Noctua NH-U12.
The Core 2 Duo release date + 1 year forward in time AMD system I will pit the Pentium D against will use an Athlon 6000+ the then fastest AMD CPU.
The motherboard is the Asus M2N SLI deluxe Nforce 570, the memory will be 2GB Micron D9 running at 752 MHz 4 4 4 12 with CPC.
I wll also add alot of Conroe to the world without Conroe so we get a true sense of what we would have missed...
The Conroe CPUs will be clocked at the same 3GHz as the Athlon 6000+. Intel was too conservative with the clocks!
Motherboard: MSI P35 Neo2, Memory: 2x1GB DDR2 800 MHz 4-4-4-12.
Conclusion
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The hypothetical Pentium D 995 4533 Mhz CPU is about even in performance compared to an Athlon X2 6000+
If the Core 2 Duo would have been a year late Intel could just have used "Preslers" potential for high clockspeed.
The Athlons lower memory frequency may seem unfair but the Athlon runs CPC which makes alot of difference.
A stock Athlon X2 6000+ uses ~40W less power both at idle and load compared to the Pentium D at 4533 Mhz 1.45V.
The Athlon is the better CPU all in all but its sad that AMDs flagship mid 2007 still was a 0.09 micron Athlon 64 X2.
Just to put things in perspective, K8 launced mid 2003, 0.09 micron K8 a year later, the Athlon X2 a year after that.
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Super Pi 1M: Pentium D 995, Win XP-32.
SuperPi 1M: Athlon X2 6000+, Win XP-32. 1s slower than the "Pentium D 995"
SuperPi 1M: Conroe 1M E2140@3.0, Win XP-32. This is awkward
Youtube 1080P (Flash): Pentium D 995, Win XP, The CPU is used for decoding. It is actually smooth but just barely
Youtube 1080P (Flash): Athlon X2 6000+, Win XP. The CPU is used for decoding and again smooth but just barely.
Youtube 1080P (Flash): Conroe 1M E2140@3.0, Win XP-32. The CPU is used for decoding and its perfectly smooth.
3dmark 2001: Pentium D 995, Win XP, GTX 285 driver 186.18.
3dmark 2001: Athlon X2 6000+, WIn XP, GTX 285 driver 186.18.
3dmark 2001: Conroe 1M E2140@3.0, Win XP-32, GTX 285 driver 186.18.
3dmark 2003: Pentium D 995, Windows XP, GTX 285 driver 186.18
3dmark 2003: Athlon X2 6000+, Windows XP, GTX 285 driver 186.18. Here the Athlon system is a little bit slower.
3dmark 2003: Conroe 1M E2140@3.0, Win XP-32, GTX 285 driver 186.18.
3dmark 2006: Pentium D 995, Win XP, GTX 285 driver 186.18.
3dmark 2006: Athlon X2 6000+, Win XP, GTX 285 driver 186.18. Another win for the Athlon
3dmark 2006: Conroe 1M E2140@3.0, Win XP-32, GTX 285 driver 186.18.
Doom 3 1024*768 Ultra: Pentium D 995, Windows XP, GTX 285 with driver 186.18
Doom 3 1024*768 Ultra: Athlon X2 6000+, Windows XP. GTX 285 with driver 186.18
Doom 3 1024*768 Ultra: Conroe 1M E2140@3.0, Win XP-32, GTX 285 driver 186.18.
More benchmarks the posts below!
New PC: i9 12900K @5GHz all cores @1.2v. MSI PRO Z690-A. 32GB DDR4 3600 CL14. 3070Ti.
Old PC: Dual Xeon X5690@4.6GHz, EVGA SR-2, 48GB DDR3R@2000MHz, Intel X25-M. GTX 980ti.
Older PC: K6-3+ 400@600MHz, PC-Chips M577, 256MB SDRAM, AWE64, Voodoo Banshee.