PRobably an old chestnut - AMD X2, cache sizes and overclocking

[oralpain]

There is so much BS in your posts.

Why don't you tell me where you are getting your information about an 840 "kicking butt" compaired to an X2 with encoding, or about an FX-55 being significantly faster (more than 10%) than an upper end M2 in single threaded apps?

In all the reviews I have seen (HardOCP, Anandtech, X-bit Labs, Tom's Hardware, ect) have shown the X2 matching or beating the 840 in video encoding overall. In multi-threaded encoding (or running two encoding applications simultaniously, wich I do) they are also much better than than a single FX-55.

What have you seen that contradicts this?

[dgr]

I've said it a million times. Dualcore is nothing new except for the geographical location of the second core. They've had multi-CPU systems for years. If you have not been interested in dual CPUs you have absolutely no reason to be interested in dualcore. Can't put it more simply than that.

You're quite correct on the price front - the initial demand will put prices up (though not for that long). However there is GOOD reason to buy dual core over multi CPU. Consider:

* Ease of installation
* No need to upgrade motherboard
* Choice of case - we aren't limited to the larger ones
* Most importantly - the X2s aren't that much hotter than a single AMD64. Which means that I can get away with less fans () and a less beafy PSU. Power without the noise penalty!

dgr

[StormPC]

AMD and the retail outlets are going to show everybody the true meaning of "expensive". You are simply not going to believe the prices of the X2 for the first 3 months+. Sure they will be fantastic for some applications (they couldn't sell them for the prices they will be getting if they were not good), but if you really believe they will make sense for the average user then you are kidding yourself.

Believe all the bogus barcharts if you want, but the only way prices are going to come down quickly is if NOBODY buys them, which is not going to happen if the posts here are any indication.

Keep up the hype talking and they'll be selling them for $2000 US for the first few months.

BTW: If you run more than one encoding application on the same machine at the same time then you can't be very serious about it because to do so can cause major problems with the quality of your projects. This is a bad practice.

[cah]

ffs. really you guys have got bees under your bonnets even though i'm the same.
Yes, dual cpu systems ARE more expensive overall becuase of 2*£500 cpus (not the mobo - ncch-dl is only £140). Although most people will have to pay an extra £80 for an EPS12V PSU.

And no storm, i am not professionally serious about transcoding - i am just a regular joe user who uses their system for many different tasks with some long ones being run in the background. I do feel however that i am hardly an atypical user. the small clique of professionals however of course would not necessarily contemplate this. However, normal users i have come across often praise HT threaded processors to high heaven in making their daily computing routine snappier. I believe dual core will be far more efficient at this.

The people who are contemplating this are game server hosts for one as this will give their socket 939 servers currently in use a lease of life and being able to host maybe 50% more processes. Same memory, same boards, different cpu but more capacity - great for them.

I have drooled over dual 3.6Ghz xeon workstations along with dual opteron 252s, but the cost is prohibitive for me.

I never said that i would do more than one encoding application at once - but i might play a game whilst encoding and take the chance it messes up


I believe someone is being Mr. stooge. These AMD dual core chips do represent an interesting new product - after all, if an X2 can get 120fps in a game for instance and the FX-55 gets 125fps i don't think anyone will be totally disappointed even though having done a feature for custompc i understand how sticky benchmarking is.

P.s. yes, initial demand will be high which is why it is adviseable to buy from a system builder by asking them to put aside one unit of stock just for you. If you can you are unlikely to pay an over-inflated price. Which is also why i am asking this question three months before I build the computer to make sure there are no problems. I want every component ready for me to put together from the 5th to 10th of October before term starts.
Hopefully the R520 will be around on shelves by october too.

As for three months being a generation, IMO the cpu and gpu are the only two components in flux - we all know that tccd or that geil tsop stuff is great memory. the nf4 boards aren't changing for a while and will support the cpu. sound cards are static until creative do that x-fi thing. Cases, fans and PSUs are relatively static. I already have a Tv card. And by october when 400GB HDs and the 74GB raptors decrease in price as they must i will be happy. Gazing into my crystal ball, i cannot see anything that will be changing other than CPU+GPU. Even if there is an HD revolution i will still go for 74+400 as they will be even cheaper.


P.s. sorry i rambled.

[oralpain]

I sure as hell won't be buying one for 6+ months. I couldn't careless what price they are released at. I never buy anything the moment it comes out, just plain not worth it.

When a 1m L2 X2 hits hits the sub 400 buck range, then I will probably go for it. If it takes to long I'll get a much cheaper Pentium D and overclock it.

BTW: If you run more than one encoding application on the same machine at the same time then you can't be very serious about it because to do so can cause major problems with the quality of your projects. This is a bad practice.

What exact problems have you had while doing this?

I've never had any problems encoding two or three (or more) things simultaniously. The end results are exactly the same as if I had done them one at a time. It just takes longer for each individual job.