Conclusion

With the exception of a few audio and video encoding benchmarks, the Athlon 64 FX-60 represents the new device to beat as far as performance goes, thanks to its two processing cores. This superlative also applies to our multitasking benchmarks. If you intend to use either ATI or NVIDIA's multi GPU platform (Crossfire and SLI respectively), this processor is a great choice for the best-possible 3D gaming experience.

At the same time, the power consumption of our test system remained at acceptable levels. At full CPU load, the nForce4-based system consumed a maximum of 223 W. This compares to the 300 W a comparable Intel Pentium D or Pentium Extreme Edition device requires. Although the difference becomes smaller in idle mode with Windows, AMD clearly offers the product with the better energy efficiency.

But there are downsides as well: The Athlon 64 FX-60 not only is the most expensive AMD desktop processor, but its life span will be short. AMD is getting ready to release the new Socket M2 processor platform in the first half of this year. Also, AMD is about to shift from a 90 to 65 nm process, which will result in the output of new, faster processors very soon- whether this happens in sync with the platform change or not remains to be seen. The socket 939 FX-60 could thus become obsolete over night, which should make you think twice before spending the princely sum which this processor commands..

AMD Processor Table