Latest Intel Processors Question

[EpicOfTimeWasted]

"Expensive as crap" is an over exageration:

Low end Pentium D: $245 at Newegg
Low end Athlon X2: $322 at Newegg

So the low end is $80 more, so what?  The high end is where the fun starts:

High end Athlon X2: $787 at Newegg
High end Pentium D: $1,029 at Newegg

The X2 is actually $242 cheaper here.  Note that when I say low/high end, I'm going by what Newegg is selling at the time of posting.  Not exactly a conclusive study, but being that Newegg is a large, reputable dealer, I think it's a fair comparison.

Also, since your missing post appears to have mentioned thermal properties, I'll include a include an excerpt from a SilentPCReview.com article:

How does AMD define TDP?
        "Thermal Design Power (TDP) is measured under the conditions of TCASE Max, IDD Max, and VDD=VID_VDD, and include all power dissipated on-die from VDD, VDDIO, VLDT, VTT, and VDDA."

    This means that TDP, as defined by AMD, is measured at the maximum current the CPU can draw, at the default voltage, under the worst-case temperature conditions. This is the maximum power that the CPU can possibly dissipate. Intel, however, has a different definition.

How does Intel define TDP?
    From the Intel Datasheet for Northwood CPUs:

        "The numbers in this column reflect Intel's recommended design point and are not indicative of the maximum power the processor can dissipate under worst case conditions."

    And from Intel's datasheet for Prescott CPUs:

        "Thermal Design Power (TDP) should be used for processor thermal solution design targets. The TDP is not the maximum power that the processor can dissipate."

    And the most telling quote of all, contained in both documents:

        "Analysis indicates that real applications are unlikely to cause the processor to consume maximum power dissipation for sustained periods of time. Intel recommends that complete thermal solution designs target the Thermal Design Power (TDP) indicated in Table 26 instead of the maximum processor power consumption. The Thermal Monitor feature is intended to help protect the processor in the unlikely event that an application exceeds the TDP recommendation for a sustained period of time."

    What this means is that Intel's TDP is actually lower than the maximum power dissipation of the processor (and as you'll see later, it can be significantly lower). This is in stark contrast to AMD's TDP numbers, which are higher than the respective processor's maximum power dissipation.

Source: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article169-page3.html

[quasi-modo]

That high end pentiumd is the extreme edition though, yes it is more expencive... but the top of the line normal pd is 538. The difference between the two is only ht.

[Adron]

But the extreme edition is still slower than the X2 for some tasks? And the power usage is extremely much higher?