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All,
As most people here will know there is a new Duo cpu due soon.
From the research i've done there will be a new Core Duo 2 next year as well. Codename Santa Rosa, it will have a different socket design.
I would like to stick with AMD but from what i hear this new duo cpu blows the doors off the AM2.
What will you do?
Core 2 hands down, not sure if a new socket will make a difference to it, I don't see why they don't just make a socket with 1100 odd pin outs, I'm tired of all these socket changes. If there's positive core architecture changes then yay.. otherwise i don't give a toss.
i'll be sticking with my current setup as long as i can, at least until i finish uni.
With AM2 for instance, they've changed the pinout, not because they had to per se, but to avoid the risks of people plugging in a new AM2 CPU into an old Opteron S940 board.
DDR and a DDR2 memory controller don't get on too well together :), and there could also be differing voltage requirements, but I agree in principle, it would be nice if they stuck to a certain pinout...
Well the only reason i would wait for the new socket is then i know i've got the latest thing and wont have to worry about socket 775 being phased out.
I'm really unsure what i'm going to do.
I'll wait and see, but i'm waiting to see what the new intel powermacs are like first...they will likely be core duo 2 based, and could be a decent replacement for my PC box
I might upgrade to a s939... :)
just bought a 939 rig, hopefully it wont be much worse than a 2.6ghz conroe
i just graduated so i thought i should just buy it now and pay it off then ill be done for a while
except for graphics, more hdds, blu ray etc etc
I think somehow my x2 4400 is plenty fast enuf, my next upgrade will most likely be gfx but the x800 I have plays BF2 and IL2 so it'll do for a while yet until something new and interesting comes out...
I was looking to get a whole new system this summer but after seeing the scores Conroe has been getting i may go for one.
Same here, looks like they will be out in Aug!Quote:
Originally Posted by Spud1
If I bother to upgrade (there is a good chance I will just stick with 939) then it will almost certainly be to the AM2 socket.
1/ I will only upgrade if I can at least double my performance. If Conroe gives ~20% over AM2, that is not significant.
2/ The future roadmap for AM2 is long. Intel change socket pinouts constantly, so I don't trust them to maintain a stable platform.
3/ I run a 64 bit Linux install for work. In current hardware the AMD 64 bit support is faster than Intel by some margin (ie the gap widens compared to 32 bit speeds). I have not seen any 64 bit benchmarks for Conroe; it can do 64 bit, can't it?
some musings:
1. we are gpu limited
2. but we are progressing towards a point in the easily-conceivable future where our 2ghz A64 chips will be too slow
3. when we get to that point, games will be multithreaded, so anyone with a dual core will still have massive amount of power left over
4. so we will still be gpu-limited for quite a while longer
5. there is only one generation of gpus left before they will fail to function without being a lot more efficient
6. this should slow down progress of gpu research at least to SOME extent by simple maths of R&D budgets
7. we will therefore be gpu limited for a while longer
8. games are using physics now which takes processing power
9. physics will be dealt with by a PPU soon
conclusion: we wont be cpu limited for a long time
appendix: quad cores will be out by then too
the diverse peoples of the world:
a. rich people
...will buy conroe because its the best and they dont have to worry about a stupid thing like money
b. people who want to browse the internet
...will buy whatevers cheap, the semprons/celerons of the time
c. people who benchmark and overclock because its the only place the have found joy
...will buy conroe because otherwise they will lose everything thats important to them
d. people who want to play games and know about hardware and dont mind splashing out a bit of cash
what we have so far is the small categories A & C buying conroe and the large category B buying some cheap crap that happens to exist at the time (perhaps most of the A64 chips lying around), so basically everything comes down to category D, which is pretty much everyone here (although we may have a bit of A, B and C in us all)
now of all the D people how many have the money/need to buy a whole new computer and how many will just be upgrading, the first lot will get conroe unless theres some horrible hidden downside but the second lot? nearly all the upgraders will have an single core s939 so their choice will be between getting a CPU, mem & mobo when it wont make any difference to their games without a new GPU aswell, or getting a low price athlon X2 chip and new GPU which will make them fly? (the games that is)
intel is back on top but does it really need to be at a time when we dont really need faster chips? and given their reliance on complicated FSB coordination, what chance does the equivalent quad-core chip (kentsfield) have against a HT-based quad AMD (both are dual-dual-cores not actual quads hence linking and master/slave issues)? what about when K8L comes out and AMD can keep up with core2 AND avoid FSB issues?
edit: btw i know i missed out the mid-range oem buyers which is a big market but that seems to all be politics at the moment so god knows what will go on there
1st gen duo 2 (conroe)
since i shall be working full time over the next year , i can afford what i like. i shall sell my socket 939 to my girlfriend then buy the best conroe chip and motherboard along with water cooling and 2gb of corsair ddr2 epp memory :)
but socket 939 prices will be dropping soon so there is no reason for not building a really good 939 system . its all down to money and if you really want/need to upgrade
Yea, it's understandable in AMD's situation, since AM2 based CPUs changed memory controllers to DDR2, and the pinouts for DDR2 sockets are different.Quote:
Originally Posted by FatalSaviour
But Intel.. their CPUs perform partically all data transactions via the Northbridge chip.. and Intel went through 3 different sockets for the P4 family, the P3 family had 2 sockets (well, Slot2 doesn't really count imo, so that makes 1).. It wouldn't kill them to think forward a bit and have appropiate pin layouts for their chipsets/CPUs to give room to grow..
Although probibly some other new technology will rear its head and there'll be another new socket next year :O_o1:
Good lord, myths myths and more myths.Quote:
Originally Posted by -ChEM-
1. x1900XT?.. them things are still CPU limited, especially in Crossfire mode.
2. That day is already here, there are countless programs that need more CPU power, especially network related and heavy duty media. Also, more and more programs are being written in scripted and/or inturprited languages, more crunching power means the overhead involved with JIT compilation is less of a concern.
3. no they wont, why do you think they invented a PPU?.. you need to free up physics processing a) so they do a proper job with physics calculations, and b) free up CPU time so games developers can make the CPU do other tasks in engine development.. the Creative labs X-Fi also has it's own APU (audio processing unit), freeing up the CPU more.. all these things are needed because CPU ticks are like gold dust.
4. GPUs aren't limited, in fact most GPUs are so underused that even nVidia (the company behind in GPU performance atm) are proposing to add Physics subsystems to their GPU drivers. And even being used to accelerate MPEG4 encoding.
5. GPUs are incredibly efficent and dedicated graphics processors.. In fact, I'd say GPUs outperform even conroes in general mathematical calcualations, and absolutely destroy them in graphical equasions.
...
I got bored..
...
a) conroes aren't expensive.
how much difference will you see moving up from a 3500+ to an fx-62 with an x1900xt in both? a lot less than you would see moving up from say an x800xt to an x1800xt instead, and which upgrade costs a hell of a lot more in terms of current retail prices? change the fx-62 to 4600+ and its still true (or at least was before latest price cuts, havent looked)... maybe when you are talking about high end dual gpus you start getting decent returns from cpus in terms of the cost involved but that just reinforces what ive said, especially as you have no way of talking about multithreaded games, except quake4 i think, go fetch some figures for that and ill believe you... if you clock your memory up to DDR600 and get a 1% increase in framerate, does that mean that games are bandwidth limited? only if you want to argue like an assQuote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
good luck with your IT GCSE, thats a good list of CPU/memory intensive stuff that most people will never see let alone use, try and use that quote in the exam but watch out, only 261 pages on the whole of google contain text written by people capable of spelling inturprited like that... if you are going to use professional software on a home computer thats what you get, thats why companies spend millions on workstations and servers... how many people do you think actually know wtf JIT compilation is on here?Quote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
what does that have to do with multithreading? if you dont know what the word is, dont start ranting about it... do you know how much difference an APU really makes compared to modern southbridge sound except in terms of how much money it makes for creative? now if you want me to care, tell me what in engine development is coming up that is going to challenge our multithreaded amd x2s except for simple upscaling over time, as all youve done is agree that PPUs will take load OFF the cpu... honestly i would like to know because it changes the viability of CPU upgrades completely and i will gladly accept i am wrong, i dont pretend to be a games developerQuote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
see point 1, theyre not underused, thats why ATI is wants it on a separate card... maybe the next gen of nvidia cards will be built to handle it but now they will slow down, im sorry they just will... and what does mpeg4 encoding have to do with the GPU-limit, its a spare function that will never be used at the same time as 3d processing... go and try to play a game on a non-sli nvidia setup while youre encoding through the gpu and you will see how underused the chip is... (btw i am aware that all you have done is repeat nvidia marketting in case you were trying to pretend to be clever)Quote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
yes they do, thats why they made them, B+ and gold star for trying hard... now you have misunderstood three successive points but still found the self belief of the stupid kid who's too stupid to realise he's stupid, FYI temps and power consumption are going to take serious hits after the next gen graphics cards, or at least they wont increase any more... requiring a £200 1kW PSU to work with your £300 GPU isnt good marketting, neither is making a graphics card that melts itself whenever you play a gameQuote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
go and do your homeworkQuote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
or some JiT compiling
god, try reading what i saidQuote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
i WAS trolling for some pro-conroe discussion as a response, but please no more fanboi bs
Nothing could be more true. Well done ChEM.Quote:
Originally Posted by -ChEM-
It seems that people want to argue for the sake arguing. There is not too much inteligence around here apart from yourself.
except that games already are multi-threaded....in fact it would be incredibly difficult to write a complex 3D game without threading. The difference is that they are not designed for dual core systems, and most games will just ignore the second core. So it's more than just writing multi-threaded applications - you have to write multi-threaded applications AND do your thread management as such that you can utilise both cores.
and btw, I think that a large proportion of people on here will know what JiT is :) JiT stuff really can be CPU limited at the moment too, big Java apps run appaulingly slow on most configurations, and even .NET stuff (my current language set of choice) isn't lightning fast compared to a natively compiled say, c++ app.
That said you are right in that there are next to no home users who would use these applications, and in reality while the above _could_ be true, any professional software that relys on good performance is just not going to be written in an interpreted langauge is it =) So i've just argued away my own point, oh well :)
It's already been decided that Intel will change their socket next year with the Santa Rosa Duo 2.Quote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
I'm not sure if i can justify upgrading to Duo 2. All i play is Counter Strike Source and Flight Simulator and maybe BF2 when i get around to buying it. Currently i'm running a S939 3700 SD. I will need dual core at the end of the year in preperation for Vista.
Now i either go with a S939 4400 X2, but i would like to start using DDR2 and not worry about changing my mobo. Or i could go for the AM2, that means changing RAM, CPU and Memory. But then if i'm chaning all that i might as well go Duo 2.
But since Intel are changing the socket for Duo 2 next year, i dont want to be buying a socket configuration that is being phased out.
I'm sure a lot of us are in this situation. I dont want to fall behind with technology, but at the same time i dont want to be buying an out of date socket type for my mobo.
EDIT: link found in another post, but for people viewing this thread.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...Core_Duo2.html
That's a amazing price and i'm sure Scan will do it cheaper than Overclockers!
There are plenty of cases where JIT compilers manage better performance than native compiled code. The reason is simple, a JIT compiler with hotspot optimisation has runtime information available to it that a static compiler can only dream of (even if you use a profiler). Of course, Java has other problems that normally throw that advantage away again...Quote:
Originally Posted by Spud1
Now, if you can run that optimiser thread on its own core so it effectively becomes free then even your single threaded apps will go faster on dual core :)
Ramble, ramble, ramble.. a whole load of rambling and not a lot of thinking. Did you not read the part where I said "especially with crossfire"?.. Multithreaded games doesn't make a damn bit of difference to performance when you have a uniprocessor. And games that have threading models like sphagetti share the same performance issues. You sure make a LOT of assumptions, you assume that a home user will use nothing but C/C++ compiled programs (even sloppy C/C++ code can run like crap on modern CPUs), you assume they'll do nothing more CPU intensive than play games.. Please.Quote:
Originally Posted by -ChEM-
I did my GCSEs when you were still suckling on your mothers nipple, don't make assumptions about people and pretend to be intelligent. A GCSE examiner isn't trained to deal with software development issues, coming across "JIT" in papers would be the same as writting it in assembily. Oh, and my apologies for typos in my post, next time I'll type my post out in word, print it out, run around after people and get them to proof-read it.. On that point, your English is less than perfect, your grammar needs work and you don't know how to express yourself clearly, you can easily correct a typo mentally as you read, it's far more challanging to try to read something without structure or meaning.Quote:
Originally Posted by -ChEM-
I'm not a game developer either, but if you were any kind of developer you'd know what CPU ticks are, you'd know what I'm getting at by displacing complex equasions from a general purpose processor to a dedicated processor you save massive amounts of ticks. Weither it be dual core, tripple core, quad core, n cores.. it doesn't bloody matter, your 'musings' were based on the assumption that we're GPU limited, and even if we go with the assumption people do nothing more than sit on their hole playing games all day, it's simpily untrue. Some people need decently powerful GPUs for more productive purposes, bearing in mind that 2D overlay rendering is becoming phased out in the near future. And the X-Fi is a true APU, that means you could.. in theory, generate a sound in realtime from a specific point in space, as well as calculate it's distortions and refractions as it travels towards the player, and having hundreds of such calculations going on at the same time.. that's the different between it, and an onboard ****chip that's been crapped out the back arse of realtek.Quote:
Originally Posted by -ChEM-
See point 1 also, granted pushing physics instructions into a GPU when the CPU is already limited is silly, I mearly used it as an example, rip the arse of nVidia for doing something that stupid, not me, but it only serves to prove that GPUs do have idle ticks to spare, *ESPECIALLY* in SLi/Crossfire configurations with high-end cards, and when you go x1900 high-end crossfire the GPUs are sitting around picking their noses waiting for the CPU to give them work, and that's even when the games are marked as 'crossfire compatiable'.Quote:
Originally Posted by -ChEM-
Yes they're hot, yes they use 130W of juice (an approximation), however bearing in mind they do the same job as several general purpose processors which combined would generate more heat and use more energy, that makes them efficent, even compaired to the 35W that high-end conroes use. The GPU heat problem isn't because they're inefficent, it's because the manufacturing process isn't as refined as that of a CPU (larger transisters require more energy to 'push' its gates and thus generate more heat), and they are in a tighter, more confined space which makes adequate cooling solutions difficult. CPUs have always enjoyed hogging up a good 30% of the space of the motherboard for cooling, GPUs only get about 8%, and depending on the design of the card and case, hotspots can build up around them.Quote:
Originally Posted by -ChEM-
I did read what you said, I also said I got bored of reading it, your little a, b, c, d points were all based on the assumption that a) conroes are expensive, which they clearly are not, consider the fact that you will be able to pick up a Core 2 DUO E6600 for about £250, which outperforms an AMD FX-62 price at £730, it's a bloody bargan and you'd be insane and a fanboy for *not* buying one if you're in the market for a system upgrade, b) that we don't need any more CPU power when clearly that is untrue also. And I'm no fanboy, when I purchase hardware, it's on the basis of my criteria, not marketting hacks, not what everyone else goes by, but what I *need*, and my needs are a) compatability with a wide varity of operating systems (there are more operating systems than windows, mkay nVidia?), b) stability, c) and performance. All in that order.Quote:
Originally Posted by -ChEM-
Now, if you feel the need to reply, please make less assumptions and condecending remarks of my charactor. Keep on track of the technology and articulate your points more clearly, if you will. I'm sorry if you felt offended that I disagreed with your points, but there's no need to be rude about it. mmkay?.. thanks
*EDIT* oh yea, stay on topic also.
Yea, well written java code vs. piss poor C++ code. Compilers optimise, not perform miracles :PQuote:
Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix
I still think Java is a horrible language, and the GUI the JVM spits back at the user doesn't blend well with the rest of the system, looks kinda old and tacky... I'm kinda liking C# myself for small or proof of concept stuff.
Out of a huge posting that I almost totally agree with, this bit stands out. According to the Inquirer web site, AMD are looking at chip scale integrating two dual cores into a single package. They are not always a totally reliable source, and I haven't seen that anywhere else.Quote:
Originally Posted by -ChEM-
Given that the current AM2 chips are already shipping with a quad core enabled crossbar on them; from history that they resisted bolting two single core opterons together when they went dual core and the announcement of their 4x4 "technology" I just don't see AMD going the multi chip package route.
Other than that, thank you for an excelllent, enjoyable and spot on rant :)
My 'built on a budget' system of a few years ago is grinding to a halt. Im building a new system over the summer to be powerful and quiet and last me through Uni with minimal upgrades.
I have a little money to play around with for once, so im not cutting back too much and am building a system based on a watercooled e6600.
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 :PQuote:
Originally Posted by Scarlet Infidel
Yikes.. Isnt that a little wee bit just sqwibbly tiny bite size too rude?Quote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
Sir, you seem in fine trollish form today!Quote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
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? :lol:
Gonna stick with my opty 165 for now wait and see what is on the horizon.
Hmm yes it is true that *sometimes* JiT code *can* be faster than a natively compiled app, BUT that is mostly talking about smaller applications, many of which are not cross platform anyway - negating part of the benefits that a language like Java or C# can offer you. They are suited for different purposes, you wouldn't write Quake 5 in java or C# now would you :) Sure you *could* and it would be interesting...but hell I wouldnt want to, for something like that I would defnitely want my own memory management for a start..
But thats going way OT now =)
I'm definately upgrading within the next few months as my current PC was thrown together on the (extremely) cheap after my old PC was taken out by a power surge! I think that i'm going to go with the Intel Core 2 Duo as i'm definately wanting to go dual core, AMD's dual core chips are overpriced and Core 2 looks really promising.
I just realised that, as the dual core with 2x1MB cache variants are disappearing from AM2 Athlon64 lineup, we will be at the mercy of the new socket AM2 Opteron pricing for any upgrade. Hope those prices are good!
In case you are wondering, I use the GCC compiler for a living and it loves 1MB cache CPUs, so yes it does matter.
I was demonstrating how making assumptions is neither polite or smart.Quote:
Originally Posted by sawyen
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?Quote:
Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix
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
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scarlet Infidel
I'm trying to be good to make the bank manager happy :bowdown:
Anyway, I think my system will be good enough until next year. Then I'll go on an order blitz lol.
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:Quote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
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' :)
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix
Have fun with your C coding :)
I did see the benchies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Smokey21
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.
edit: gone, god that was tedious and now completely pointless
http://www.hothardware.com/articleimages/Item832/q1.pngQuote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
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. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by -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
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hexus
Uh huh..Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom's Hardware
Didn't I mention something about assumptions before?Quote:
Originally Posted by AnandTech
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%.Quote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
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.
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 :P
Not upgrading yet, my 939 X2 3800+ is perfectly fine, it's also almost a brand new rig :p
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.
Interestingly, AMD may still keep the upper hand....
http://theinquirer.net/?article=32589
So, AM2 is slightly more then DDR2...hmmm
Seems a bit strange. It is the Inq so taken with a pinch of salt.Quote:
Originally Posted by shaithis
That Inq article sounds interesting, but doesn't change a thing for most people.
Games and mpeg ripping/transcoding depend heavily on SSE throughput, and Conroe has twice as many units as current AMD devices. You can wire up half the throughput any way you like, unless there is more to it than the Inq have discovered so far then this may only be of interest to a few.
everywhere else is saying its something for k8l not any current AM2s
Game engines are only starting to make some use of SSE instructions though. We're up to SSE3 now and only heavy duty media encoding is making proper use of them instructions for most of the part :/Quote:
Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix
If i can afford it, i'd rather change my system to a Core 2 Duo.
I actually love my Opteron, it has been very good, but I am less and less happy with my motherboard (can't work out if it is the board or the chipset) - i get random reboots at least weekly, and over the weekend 3 times in 1 day. Had to knock back my overclocks significantly, which is a shame as the Opteron itself handles 2.6 GHz with ease (and probably room for more).
Bottom line for me - Intel chipsets have always done the job properly, it was only ever the CPUs that were underpowered. Now that you get a top CPU in an intel chipset there is no contest.
I totally and wholeheartedly agree, Intel chipsets are awesome, not only are they stable, but they work with just about any operating system that supports x86.Quote:
Originally Posted by MSIC
Get yourself an Asus Nforce 4 then. There solid as a rock. I haven't had a blue screen, for 4 months, and never had an issue with the board.Quote:
Originally Posted by MSIC
Hmm, might just do that. Of course, you have to go through the whole re-installing rubbish etc. I don't mind doing that for windows, but all the applications too.... it'll come down to laziness more than cost I think!
Took me ages to get an Opty running at 3.1ghz so not going to upgrade for a bit but will keep an eye out when the platform matures a bit. But Conroe does appear to be as good as the benchies make out.
Dam Dual core at 3.1ghz is awesome, what cooling you on?