Ok well it seems as the core 2 duo is very popular for hackintosh today but if your on a budjet there are very similar choices.

i only found 1 that had almost the same specs of a core 2 and its only $80.

Heres a comparison.... first core 2 duo.




CPU Socket Type LGA 775
Dual-Core
Core 2 Duo E6700
2.66GHz
FSB 1066MHz
L1 Cache 32KB+32KB
L2 Cache 4M shared
Manufacturing Tech 65 nm
64 bit Support
Virtualization Technology Support
Multimedia Instruction MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4, EM64T
Voltage 0.850V-1.3525V

Now the intel Pentium D 920 Presler

CPU Socket Type LGA 775
Dual-Core
Pentium D 920
2.8GHz
FSB 800MHz
L1 Cache 24KB+32KB
L2 Cache 2 x 2MB
Manufacturing Tech 65 nm
64 bit Support
Virtualization Technology Support
Multimedia Instruction MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
Voltage 1.25-1.4V


So there are some minor differences. the major is sse4 and emt64 but i dont even know any mac apps that uses these technologies unless leopard does. if you are on a tight budget then get the pentium D but otherwise the Dou is what Mac uses and has better support.

This is 80 bucks at new egg so check it out. and go ahead an post any other cheaply good comparisons but it should have 64 bit and virtualization on it to compare.

oh and if you overclock and want a duo.. all the 6X00 series are the same. you can overclock the 1.8 GHz duo 6300 to be a core extreme 6800.

Both has Em64T, and the 1066 MHz FSB is a big improvement....cheers

Ya its an improvement but if your on a budget the Pentium D is the best ive found

You can't compare directly just because they have similar specs on paper. For one, the Core 2 Duo uses much less power - 65w max compared to 115w max. It's also faster per MHz, with a 2.4GHz E6600 scoring better than a 3.6GHz Pentium D 960. I think the best bang for the buck is the E4300 at $117. At only 1.8GHz, the E4300 will actually score about the same as the 2.8GHz 920, but it will normally overclock very high, often reaching 3.0GHz or above. The Pentium Ds don't overclock quite as much as the Core 2 Duos.

Yes nothing beats the Duos i know but the 4300 doesnt support virtualization wich is a boost for Parallels. Some of the D's Do at a cheaper price. (somtimes). the 6300 1.8 Ghz is the best because it can overclock to and exact core extreme.

Yeah. I prefer the E6300 or 6320 as well, but for $50, if you aren't going to use virtualization, there isn't much difference. The 4300 is often more overclockable too, since it has a lower bus speed and a higher multiplier. (200x9 instead of 266x7). A few people have gotten them to 4GHz!

Amen

you just can't compare the MHz of a pentium D to the ones of a C2D, they use other microarchitecture (netburst IIRC vs. core) it's like comparing amd MHz to intel ones, amd with the same can do more. make a bench to both processors and then see by yourself if there are differences or not