compare intel core 2 duo 2.4 ghz to phenom 8400

They don't drop that many FPS so AMD has priced them to be better value. Interestingly, despite the fact that we all know the Core 2 Quads perform better than AMD Phenom X4s, the AMD's turn out to be really great value CPUs simply because of their price. Without overclocking the other Core i7's don't provide anywhere near as good value here either - the i7 920 at only 2.66GHz loses about 10 percent in value but the more expensive i7 940 and 965 drop a significant amount. While the Core i7 920 at 4GHz is undoubtedly faster than the Phenom X4 9750, but since the i7 920 costs $284 versus $164 for the Phenom X4, the offset in price only affords it to a 3 percent better value in price : performance stakes. The Q6600 with DDR2 and DDR3 isn't far behind in the mid-20 percent range, and even the stock E8500 is a positive +20 percent value. With a full 36-40 percent better price : performance margin the dual core E8400 compared to the baseline Phenom X4 9750. In Crysis the relative CPU value of the highly overclocked E8400 at 4GHz is a clear winner here - with the performance of DDR3 taking the crown although DDR2 isn't far behind. AMD Phenom X4 9850 OC (4x3GHz, 2.0GHz HTT).

Crysis 1680x1050 0AA 0AF, All High Settings

Compare intel core 2 duo 2.4 ghz to phenom 8400