In most scenarios Athlon II X4 620 was faster than an Intel-based system on the same price range (Pentium E6300). The only important exception was on Photoshop CS4, where Pentium E6300 was 24% faster than Athlon II X4 620, and file compression with WinRAR, where both CPUs achieved the same performance.

Although on-board video is not the best platform for running games, with AMD785G you can at least run them to see how they look like. With Intel G45 we couldn’t even run 3DMark Vantage and Fallout 3. And on Half-Life 2: Episode Two AMD785G was 46% faster than Intel G45. But installing a GeForce 9600 GT made both CPUs to achieve practically the same performance level for gaming (there was some differences between them, but they were below 5%), meaning that for mid-range system (and high-end systems as well) the component that most matters for gaming performance is the video card, not the CPU. But even if you are going to play games a lot buying the new Athlon II X4 620 for building a mid-range gaming system will give you an edge on all other applications you will eventually run, like video conversion.

In summary, AMD hit bull’s eye by releasing an entry-level quad-core CPU on the USD 100 range, providing a terrific cost/benefit ratio.