Labs

AMD's most powerful processor is the dual-core Athlon 64 FX-62. It has the same Windsor core as the Socket AM2 X2 4200+ and X2 4600+, but has 1MB of level 2 cache for each core and runs at 2.8GHz.

The Athlon 64 FX-62 was easily the fastest AMD processor in both the single- and multi-threaded benchmarks. It achieved the third-fastest score in both the image-editing and multitasking tests with 180 and 197, and was third overall with 188. It fell behind the fastest three Intel processors in the video-encoding test, managing a score of 251. We managed to overclock the FX-62 by 10 per cent to 3.08GHz, improving its overall score to 194.

AMD's Athlon 64 FX-62 is an incredibly fast processor, and quicker than Intel's previous-generation Pentium Extreme Edition 965. Unfortunately, it can't compete with Intel's new Core 2 Duo range. The far cheaper Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 was faster in all our benchmarks and costs £200 less.