"All those people who are calling this article dumb saying 'we knew this already' why did you read it then???? If you already knew all this stuff why did not just go away and play the games at you custom settings?" Because the article title and preview on the front page insinuated that the article would be about something else, something far more useful, possibly some creative graphical tweaks/mods akin to what you find on enthusiast boards. Instead, we get what boils down to common sense that any PC gamer should know.

I really think GS **** up these benchs somewhere. You're telling me that an 8800 GTX, a card that can run Oblivion at 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF at MAX settings and average 45.8 FPS, is only averaging 40 in NWN2 at 1600x1200 with MEDIUM settings? Yeah, something's not right here.

Considering that the article was published today, and it typically takes around 2 weeks to do thorough benchmarks and then write the article, I'm thinking GS didn't test this with the most recent patch, a patch that drastically improved performance across the board. If that's the case, this article is completely worthless. It just seems a little ridiculous that the 8800 GTS and GTX can completely rip through Oblivion with max settings and yet they average 30-40 in NWN2.

Thanks, njma. I'll go ahead and do you one better though ;) http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/intel_core_2_performance/http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/07/14/core2_duo_knocks_out_athlon_64/http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=845http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3/core2/index.x?pg=1http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2duo-shootout_3.html All of those reviews use the FX-62 as well as the best AM2 board money can buy. If anyone else cries foul on GS' review, they need to learn how to read.

The fanboys really amuse me. Why don't you tell me what adding an FX-62 to the benchmarks is going to prove? In case you haven't been paying attention, the FX-60 IS dual-core and was overclocked to 2.8GHz. There's your FX-62 right there. As far as AM2 goes, it does ABSOLUTELY nothing for performance. It's S939 saddled with DDR2, that's it. C2D also consumes less power and is currently poised to offer better price/performance than the A64, even with the looming 55% price cuts. Face it, C2D is leaps and bounds above the A64 and AMD's only answer, K8L, isn't due out until 2008. AMD woke up a sleeping giant and Intel proved that they clearly have what it takes to regain the lead with authority. And before you sit there and call me an Intel fanboy, know that the last 4 rigs I've built have all used AMD.