The X2 line will range from expensive to painfully expensive to root-canal-without-anesthetic expensive. Here, in keeping with TR tradition, are a couple of big pictures of the CPU. In fact, the package will look very familiar to those of you who have seen a Socket 939 processor before. It’s the same basic chip, just in a different package. Can AMD’s dual-core desktop processors deliver on their promise? Keep reading.Īs you might expect, the Athlon 64 X2 is simply the desktop version of the dual-core Opteron that we reviewed recently. We’ve had two versions of this CPU on the bench in Damage Labs for a while now: the screaming 4800+ that may be the fastest single microprocessor on the planet, and the gotta-have-it 4200+, AMD’s most affordable dual-core processor that promises to be every enthusiast’s new sweetheart. The X2 offers an infusion of creamy multitasking smoothness and nearly twice the peak processing power of an Athlon 64 FX-55. Sporting a fashionable 939 pins on their underbellies, these CPUs promise to drop into the average Athlon 64 desktop system and transform it, almost magically, into a dually. Now it’s time for AMD’s dual-core desktop processor line, the Athlon 64 X2, to take its turn on stage. O VER THE PAST FEW weeks, we’ve seen a parade of dual-core CPUs, starting with the Pentium Extreme Edition 840 and the dual-core Opterons.