AMD seems to be having a hard time these days, but actually they should have known what was coming. Lurking through computer hardware forums you can always spot some kind of Intel vs. AMD debate going on, but what's interesting is how AMD keeps lowering their prices followed shortly by Intel. Many enthusiasts think that the computer hardware gaming industry is owed to the level of commitment that AMD places on the value of a processor. Of course that is simply my observation since I purchased a CPU such as this. Many people become intrigued over a 3Ghz default processor, especially when its a $160 one. The bottom line is with that kind of value, and a new launch, I think AMD is just camping on what they have now. If you are an overclocker there is no way you can't be interested in what a default clocked 3.0Ghz AMD x2 can do on some water... Why don't we find out?

AMD Athlon x2 6000+ Overclocking

     Overclocking the 6000+ was fairly easy, but not so easy that with the stock HSF with temperatures around 65c, which is bad. Regardless of those extreme temperatures we managed to get it up to 3380MHz! With better cooling provided by DangerDen we got it up to almost 3.5Ghz, but for stability's sake we settled on 3.45Ghz! It was fairly easy to do so on the excellent Asus board, but I must mention that we could not muster more than 265mhz on the FSB. This issue really bothered me and no matter how hard I tried that was it! I'm quite sure this is due to the BIOS writers over at Asus, because the last three firmware updates are beta! It is also worth mentioning that although the voltage is adjustable in the BIOS, every software monitoring program including Asus's showed no change of voltage. Despite these shortcomings, its kind of a blessing in disguise for AMD. If 3.5Ghz is easily attainable on a beta BIOS with no vcore adjustment, and a stuck FSB, think about a AM2 board that had the functionality you would expect!

     For stability we stress-tested the system using Super Pi mod. Running the 32m option is very easy to do from the 'Calculate' menu option. Typically this test will last up to 45min or so, but with the 6000+ it only took 22min!

SuperPi 32m 

Overclocked System Specs:

• Motherboard: Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe
  

• Processor: AMD Athlon x2 6000+
  (13x265, 1.55vcore, 1.60v chipset, 4x HTT, bios sans memory on "auto")

• Memory: Patriot PC-6400 @ 492
  (4-5-4-12 2T, 2.4v)

• Video Card: ATI x1950 Pro 256mb @ 621/797 w/ Maze 4 GPU Block and Swiftech Ramsinks

• DangerDen Water Cooling: ViaAqua 640GpH AC Pump, TDX AM2 CPU block, Black Ice Pro Radiator, 1/2in lines, dual bay reservoir. (55c load, 38c idle)

CPU-Z

     Using CPU-Z, I wanted to make sure that my memory frequency was accurate and up to speed. You might noticed my memory is at 4-5-4 instead of 4-4-4. This is where 1066 memory would come in handy. Noticed the HTT at 1325!! This is typical of the F3 stepping, as I have seen a few out there over 2000!! Noticed the similarity between this CPU and one of the FX processor from 6 months ago. The 6000+ could easily be mistaken for an FX processor with its decent sized cache

3DMark 2003 and 2005

     3DMark was used at 1024x768x32 no AA/AF. We used the default configuration so you can easily compare it to configurations as a standard. The x1950pro was overclocked to 621/797 for both default and overclocked benchmarks.

3DMark CPU Tests

     This is kind of a new way of benchmarking a CPU. It seems that as Futuremark products age, the more people rely on them as a benchmarking standard. It’s with good reason to use them for this review.

PiFast, wPrime32, SuperPI mod (lower is better)

     These are simple programs that were used to test stability and also provide a good idea of how much faster a system can be when overclocked. Nothing like SuperPi to test for CPU stability.

HL2 Lost Coast, COD 2, NFS Most Wanted

     Since I haven’t taken the Vista route just yet, and there are few DX10 games out there I decided to throw in some games that I normally use to compare my system to another. I haven’t stopped playing either of these games, simply because they have matured well, and are easily enjoyed. For NFSMW I used fraps over a period of 2 minutes of game play in order to get a consistent FPS base.

Final thoughts...

     As you can see overclocking is still a very good way to gain some value out of a processor that normally would be beaten badly by its flagship competition. Going from 3.0Ghz to 3.5Ghz gives us a nice increase in fps, and if you think about all the money you are saving it puts a smile on your face. Sure we had a high-end water cooling setup, but we also has a video card in the cooling loop, so you should be able to get similar results with a decent HSF. With the money you save you can even save up for another video card, or similar upgrade! With Phenom on its way, as well as a 6400+ version of the x2 processor, the 6000+ will only sink in price which makes it a noteworthy processor to consider. With AMD rumored to not switch its AM2 socket with Phenom you'll only save more money in the long-term!

Innovation:	9.0 out of 10
Performance:	7.0 out of 10
Quality:	7.5 out of 10
Stability:	8.0 out of 10
Overclocking:	7.0 out of 10
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Value:	7.5 out of 10
Overall Rating 8.0
Project Skill Level (10 being most difficult)	6 out of 10