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Now for the moment of truth and real glory, how much faster is the new Phenom compared to the Athlon64 X2 in games and can it compete with the Core 2 Quad?

Surprisingly the Phenom 9500 is only a fraction quicker than the Athlon64 X2 5200+ in Prey, delivering 6 fps more at 1680x1050 and 3fps at 1920x1200. This would not seem so bleak if the Phenom 9500 was not 12% slower than the Core 2 Quad Q6600 at 1920x1200.

While the Phenom 9500 provides a minor 6% performance increase over the Athlon64 X2 5200+ at 1920x1200, it was 20% slower than the Core 2 Quad Q6600 at this very same resolution.