Great news for those of you who are currently having plans to upgrade your desktop computers. Intel announced five new Core 2 Duo processors today, codenamed Conroe (4MB L2 cache) and Allendale (2MB L2 cache). And from bit-tech.net’s preview copies’ benchmark results, it seems like things are looking really great.

There are many occasions where the Core 2 Duo E6600 is hot on the heels of the Athlon 64 FX-62, and in many cases Intel’s slowest 4MB L2 cache Core 2 Duo outperforms AMD’s flagship chip for roughly 1/3 of the price. On the other hand, there are many occasions where the Core 2 Duo E6400 puts in strong performances against the Athlon 64 X2 5000+ and X2 4600+ processors. In many situations, it came out on top of the X2 5000+ while costing considerably less than AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 3800+.

Intel fans rejoice, as it seems like Intel is close to reclaiming its crown. Why close? Because the chips aren’t available for purchase right now. The expected date is July 24, 2006.

Check out the in-depth review.