The 4600+ offers performance very near that of the 5000 in most area with the advantage of lower power consumption than the standard model and much lower power consumption than the highest model AMD CPU on the market, the FX-62. The price of the 4600 is $276, making it an interesting purchase decision. The 3800+ on the other hand is designed for a different market. 35W is a far cry from the 110W the FX-62 takes. The performance of the 3800+ is ok, but considering the other benefits you get from the energy efficiency and dual cores, its worth the price in my opinion.
Intel and AMD are moving towards more efficiency in their CPUs and that's a good thing. The "Green" initiative is about conserving energy and saving our environment. With power requirements on every facet of the computer going up (the 7950 GX2 in SLI mode requires a minimum of a 650W Power Supply), the reduced power requirements of the EE CPUs from AMD are a definite plus.
With the recent merger announced between ATI and AMD, the computer industry will change in significant ways in the near future. What I wonder with the merger is what kind of integrated video might we see in the future on the AMD platform. With Microsoft's Vista coming up next year, graphics are going to be a major component of any system. The days where DirectX 7.0 graphics are adequate for the mainstream user are over and it's likely that the major players will have integrated components with decent performance and features throughout their lineups.
