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Because AMD realized that they could not keep pushing processor frequencies indefinitely, the K8 was engineered to scale not only in frequency but also in another direction; the number of processor cores. The past few months have seen a huge surge in talk of multi-processing, multi-threaded applications, and multi-tasking. Rather than trying to get one thing done very, very quickly, the spotlight has been shifted over to trying to get two or more things done at the same time.

With AMD gearing up to release its new offspring to the public, we are entering a new era of consumer computing -- dual-core processors. While AMD has had a dual-core processor available for a while now in the form of their server-oriented Opteron, it is also extending to their desktop processor line up with the Athlon 64 X2.

The Athlon 64 X2 4200+

The magic of AMD's Athlon 64 X2 is that it sports the same 939-pin package in the current Athlon 64 processors meaning that you can experience the sorcery of dual-processors by swapping out your current Athlon 64 for an X2, and upgrading your BIOS. Voila -- instant SMP!

Of course, there are exceptions to that rule. AMD's official statement is that motherboards capable of delivering enough power to happily keep an existing 90-nm Athlon 64 humming along should drive an Athlon 64 X2 without problems. Heat will also not be an issue, as the thermal design power (TDP) of the X2 is not any higher in most cases than the 104W of the FX-55 at 2.6 GHz.

While we only have had time to play around with one model of the Athlon 64 X2, AMD has four models lined up for a May 31st official release. Given the X2's close relation to the previously-released dual-core Opteron series, it is no surprise that there is a 1MB L2 cache version on the charts. Unfortunately, prices of these first desktop dual-core parts are also a fistful out of the old Opteron bag.

AMD is very clear about the positioning of the X2 line up - it is definitely a high end part and it is reflected with the PR rating that starts above the high end single core. With a 2.2 GHz/512 KB L2 Socket 939 Clawhammer costing about $265 USD right now, justifying the cost of an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ could be a tad difficult for the average consumer but AMD has stressed that the Athlon X2 line up will initially be a prosumer oriented part.

In contrast, Intel seems to be aiming for more of the mass market with their low end dual core part. The disparity in pricing between the chip firms will lead to somewhat of a perplexing state of things for the next few months. Take for instance AMD's entry-level dual-core part -- the very same one we have on the test bench today -- the X2 4200+. Priced at $537 USD, this is no bargain-bin chip. Intel's entry-level dual-core part, the Pentium D 820 which clocks in at 2.8 GHz, is priced at $241 USD. That is less than half the price of the X2 -- and will result in direct competition between AMD's regular single-core parts and Intel's entry-level dual-core parts. With the Pentium 4 series already having a bit of an edge over the Athlon 64 series when it comes to media encoding and multitasking, throwing another Pentium 4 core into the mix might not bode too well for AMD.

Fruitless speculating aside, let's get started with the Athlon 64 X2 4200+. Can it live up to the hype and justify its cost, or is it a solution to a problem that doesn't yet exist? Read on and find out!