AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ vs Core 2 Duo E4700

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ and the Core 2 Duo E4700 are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ has 2 cores and 2 threads, and the Core 2 Duo E4700 has 2 cores and 2 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 2.8 GHz and 2.6 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ uses the AM2 socket and the Core 2 Duo E4700 uses LGA775, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 89 W for the first and 65 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

We do not have launch prices for both chips, so we cannot compare value.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ can feed a card up to the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core 2 Duo E4700 reaches the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core 2 Duo E4700 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.