Lab

CPU megatest

With AMD and Intel continually leapfrogging each other in the battle to be at the heart of your PC, deciding which company's CPU to build your new PC around can be bewildering. Should you be concerned with future-proofing, or simply opt for the best-value deal out there right now? We answer this question and plenty more in this comprehensive Labs.

While Socket 939 is still around, AMD's AM2 socket now caters for the whole of its new desktop range, and LGA 775 does the same for Intel. If you're building a PC from scratch, you should only be looking at these two sockets in order to future-proof your PC as far as possible.

We've rounded up every CPU currently available for AM2 and LGA 775 and put each through our intensive 2D application benchmarks to gauge their true performance. We've also trawled the internet to bring you the lowest prices for each, combining our findings to see exactly where the real value can be found - with surprising results.

From Intel, you'll see the blisteringly fast Core 2 Duo, along with the older Pentium 4s and Pentium Ds. Since Celeron D processors can now be picked up for as little as £25, we've thrown them into the melting pot as well.

AMD's line-up is more restrained, but no less extensive: dual-core offerings range from the flagship Athlon 64 FX-62 to the Athlon 64 X2 3800+. Meanwhile, the Sempron range offers similar prices to the Celerons: just £22 for the cheapest model.

We've reviewed the CPUs in families, rather than each individual model, picking the best from each. We also look at overclocking (see p100), investigating reasons for and against squeezing extra performance from your CPU. Plus, we test a selection of CPU coolers on p104. Finally, don't miss a look ahead down AMD and Intel's roadmaps on p106 (where quad-core is on the horizon) and our buyers' guide on p109 to see how the CPUs compare in a variety of PC-building scenarios.