Athlon 64 X2 5600+ vs Core 2 Quad Q6600

Place in the ranking	2375	2817
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Series	Core 2 Quad (Desktop)	no data
Power efficiency	1.04	0.61
Architecture codename	Kentsfield (2007)	Windsor (2006−2007)
Release date	no data (2024 years ago)	December 2006 (17 years ago)

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Quad (Desktop) Q6600 and Athlon 64 X2 5600+ basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	4 (Quad-Core)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	4	2
Boost clock speed	2.4 GHz	2.9 GHz
Bus rate	1066 MHz	no data
L1 cache	no data	256 KB
L2 cache	no data	512K
L3 cache	no data	0 KB
Chip lithography	65 nm	90 nm
Die size	no data	220 mm²
Number of transistors	no data	227 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Quad (Desktop) Q6600 and Athlon 64 X2 5600+ compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	no data	1
Socket	no data	AM2
Power consumption (TDP)	105 Watt	89 Watt

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Core 2 Quad Q6600 1.15
+102%

Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 0.57

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Core 2 Quad Q6600 1820
+102%

Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 903

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Core 2 Quad Q6600 268
+16%

Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 231

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Core 2 Quad Q6600 764
+90.5%

Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 401

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.15	0.57
Physical cores	4	2
Threads	4	2
Chip lithography	65 nm	90 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	105 Watt	89 Watt

Core 2 Quad Q6600 has a 101.8% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 38.5% more advanced lithography process.

Athlon 64 X2 5600+, on the other hand, has 18% lower power consumption.

The Core 2 Quad Q6600 is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon 64 X2 5600+ in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Quad Q6600 and Athlon 64 X2 5600+, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.