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The Athlon is one of many processor families, each consisting of multiple models, produced by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The Intel Corporation also produces various lines of processors. Comparing the two requires narrowing your scope to those Intel and Athlon processors whose performance benchmarks are similar.
Types
Manufacturers can place more than one processor on a single chip, increasing the number of operations the unit can perform simultaneously. When comparing processors, it's important to look at units with the same number of cores. The Athlon is a single-core processor, best compared with Intel's Pentium 4 CPU. The Athlon II X2 is a dual-core processor, similar to Intel's Core 2 Duo.
Speeds
Both Intel and AMD use clock rate---the number of times per second the processor works to execute calculations---as a measure of speed. As of 2010, the Athlon single-core's top speed is 2.8 GHz, while the Pentium 4's is 3.8 GHz. The Athlon II X2 clocks in at a maximum of 3.2 GHz, just below the 3.33 GHz Core 2 Duo.
Value
According to PC Stats, AMD processors tend to be more economical, providing more features at lower prices. AnandTech reports that AMD usually offers Athlons at lower prices than comparable mid-range processors from Intel. As such, mid-priced Athlon processors don't face as much competition from Intel as do AMD's top-of-the-line processors.
Tags: Athlon single-core, from Intel, Intel Athlon, lower prices, Pentium Athlon