Core Duo 2 Conroe/Merom

[aidanjt]

Yikes.. Isnt that a little wee bit just sqwibbly tiny bite size too rude?

I was demonstrating how making assumptions is neither polite or smart.

Sir, you seem in fine trollish form today!

You seem to speak with inside knowledge not available to those of us that merely read the research material. Perhaps you wrote the C++ code?

How is it trolling?.. Well written compiled code will *ALWAYS* perform more optimally than JiT code, especially with multimedia and network applications.. what is your definition of a troll anyway?.. someone who disagrees with you?

[dancingmatt]

Voted for 1st gen Duo 2.

A few weeks ago I had some days off work and I'm online putting together an order for my brand new rig, that I was going to build that week, based around a 4000+ X2 S939. I've got an Athlon 2400+ with Ti4200 at the mo (and it's still great but I've had it years and it's really becoming limited in games - I'm not getting rid of it, just building more of another PC and sharing out the hard drives between them).

Then out came AM2 - damn - so I waited to buy that but it wasn't available on the release date (should've seen that coming). While I wait each day I check into this "Conroe" I've heard of.

AM2 is available now, but given the benchmarks I've seen I've left that plan behind and am waiting for an E6600. Don't see the point in buying S939 now when AM2 is the future of that, and I never "upgrade" to replace - just buy a really good rig that I can afford without redundancy, and add to it in future. So when the Conroe LGA 775 socket gets killed off, there will still be loads of processors I can buy to fit it, but I'll probably still be happy with the CPU and just get a second GPU later (that's the benefit of SLI, not to buy 2 cards in one go, but buy a second later when they're cheaper and equal the performance of something new high-end).

Conroe then. Unless you tell me it won't be available for me until September/October etc., well after the release date, in which case I might go for the AM2 rig now.

DM
DM

[Scarlet Infidel]

I'd hold onto that money and wait up till the end of the year and see why Intel is releasing a new socket design, unless it's burning a hole in your pocket

Ive heard no word of a new desktop socket in the near future. The next main jump due form Intel is the quad core kentsfield processor which doesnt overly interest me. Thats due at the start of 2007 on socket 775.

I dont see that theres much else significant to wait for and i need a new computer in the next couple of months for uni (this ones staying here).

[aidanjt]

I dont see that theres much else significant to wait for and i need a new computer in the next couple of months for uni (this ones staying here).

Oh I totally agree, I'm itching to build a new system.
I'm trying to be good to make the bank manager happy

Anyway, I think my system will be good enough until next year. Then I'll go on an order blitz lol.

[DanceswithUnix]

How is it trolling?.. Well written compiled code will *ALWAYS* perform more optimally than JiT code, especially with multimedia and network applications.. what is your definition of a troll anyway?.. someone who disagrees with you?

Apologies if I offended, but the gap really has closed right down to irrelevant, though for the few people doing multimedia code you may still be right:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_optimization

Having said that, my personal prejudice is still against Java for other reasons.

I shall now get back to producing well written compiled 'C'

[Smokey21]

Totally agree with Chem. Check out the benchies of Conroe Vs A64 X2, in games like FEAR and COD2. There's very little difference. Your always better of getting the fastest video card.

An X2 is plenty, which is why iam sticking with my 939 Setup.

[aidanjt]

Apologies if I offended, but the gap really has closed right down to irrelevant, though for the few people doing multimedia code you may still be right:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_optimization

Having said that, my personal prejudice is still against Java for other reasons.

I shall now get back to producing well written compiled 'C'

No offence taken, I agree the gap is closing to negliable levels for the majority of applications. Adaptive optimisation looks interesting, and I too have prejudice against JiT compiled languages for (a variety of) other reasons, I'm just trying to stay out of it since it goes way OT.

Have fun with your C coding

[aidanjt]

Totally agree with Chem. Check out the benchies of Conroe Vs A64 X2, in games like FEAR and COD2. There's very little difference. Your always better of getting the fastest video card.

An X2 is plenty, which is why iam sticking with my 939 Setup.

I did see the benchies.
In most cases mid-range conroes beat AMDs FX-62 without overclocking, crossfire setups should see significant gains. And considering the chip is cheaper than AMD64 X2s AND a far better all round performer, AND looks promising to be an excellent overclocker, the only reason not to get one is not being in the market for a system rebuild, or a false sense of loyalty.

However, there's no doubt your current system is more than adiquate for the time being. But for those who are looking to build a new system, it's pretty clear which you'd go for.

[-ChEM-]

edit: gone, god that was tedious and now completely pointless

[-ChEM-]

And games that have threading models like sphagetti share the same performance issues

http://www.hothardware.com/articleimages/Item832/q1.png

good job you posted that link or i might have believed you

btw those benches are all biased anyway, an E6600 seems to be about the same as an FX-62 so thats the price level AMD need to equate to

[aidanjt]

http://www.hothardware.com/articleimages/Item832/q1.png

good job you posted that link or i might have believed you

btw those benches are all biased anyway, an E6600 seems to be about the same as an FX-62 so thats the price level AMD need to equate to

Of course they're biased, because they don't fit in your perfect world of AMD CPUs beating Intel to a pulp, and since you went and bought an AMD because you're all knowing and infallable n all that, they must be all biased. Disregard the fact that two of them pit E6700's vs. FX-62's and still win in the majority of benchmarks. Toms hardware even overclocked it's FX-62 against the E6700 to give it a fighting chance.

[-ChEM-]

it wasnt tomshardware's fx-62, it was intels, as were all the chips involved in those tests

i will be recommending a core2 chip to people who are upgrading 754s etc btw

you are the one who has been ignoring benchmarks and ranting on about coding principles instead remember

[aidanjt]

We've managed to run a complete set of benchmarks for both Conroe CPUs in our own lab environment guaranteed free of bias and we've compared their performance to the Presler Extreme Edition 965 and, uniquely, also to today's newcomer from AMD, the Athlon 64 FX-62 AM2.

These benchmarks were run on a Conroe system during the Intel demonstrations. We collected the results, and then compared them later to those from an optimally configured Athlon FX-62 system in our own test labs. This leads us to a couple of caveats about interpreting the results.

Uh huh..

In case we weren't clear: we acquired, built, installed and tested these two test systems entirely on our own and without the help of Intel.

Didn't I mention something about assumptions before?

[Smokey21]

I did see the benchies.
In most cases mid-range conroes beat AMDs FX-62 without overclocking, crossfire setups should see significant gains. And considering the chip is cheaper than AMD64 X2s AND a far better all round performer, AND looks promising to be an excellent overclocker, the only reason not to get one is not being in the market for a system rebuild, or a false sense of loyalty.

However, there's no doubt your current system is more than adiquate for the time being. But for those who are looking to build a new system, it's pretty clear which you'd go for.

You did see the benchies? Go back and look at them again then. I just looked at FEAR, at 1260, with 4X AA, and hey presto, the difference is 3%.

Reviews, and benchmarks for CPU's are run at low resolution, with no pressure on the GPU, so they can review the chips better. Modern games are GPU bound, a faster CPU makes little difference.

Conroe looks awesome, and will be a excellent upgrade for P4 users, and certain AMD users, but X2's, an high end A64's won't see much difference in a gaming envirenment.

Thats all im saying, there is nothing you can say, because it's all fact.

Im smart with my upgrades, lots of people aren't and they will jump on the Conroe bandwagan. Good for them, the chips are the best out, but if you lready have a capable CPU, your far better off adding another GPU in SLI or somet.

[aidanjt]

Like I said, I agree, if your system is sufficent there's no need to upgrade, why would there be?.. No doubt there'll be certian people with more money than sense and build a whole new system just because it's the latest and greatest. We're both in total agreement that conroe is kickass, we're not in a hurry to upgrade, yet still debating it

[Veles]

Not upgrading yet, my 939 X2 3800+ is perfectly fine, it's also almost a brand new rig

Gonna wait a few years before I do a CPU upgrade, hopefully by then, AMD's new architecture (if they're making one) will be out and we can see who is the winner this round. I would like it to be AMD, but I wont go for a poorer processor just because of the company.