We found the new Athlon 64 X2 6000+ to be more overclockable than prior models. While it has been difficult to exceed 3 GHz with 90 nm AMD64 processors, the new one reached as much as 3.28 GHz using standard air cooling, which can be attributed to the new F3 stepping.
From a technology standpoint, the new model clearly is an improvement, although it reminds us of Intel, trying to squeeze as much clock speed as possible out of an aging architecture. It seems to me as if both AMD and Intel eventually follow similar strategies: build a micro architecture first and squeeze its clock speed potential until the next generation is ready.
From a performance standpoint, the new Athlon 64 X2 6000+ is no match for Intel Core 2 Duo processors from the E6700 up. However, it is still worth consideration, because AMD is very well aware of its performance handicap and adjusted the stepping as well as its processor pricing accordingly. The 6000+ is the most affordable Athlon 64 top model we've seen yet, and it is capable of playing in the league with a Core 2 Duo E6600.
