Athlon Socket AM2 Review 185
NerdMaster writes "Hardware Secrets has just posted an Athlon 64 X2 5000+ review, one of the first AMD CPUs to support the new socket AM2. It runs at 2.4 GHz, has two 512 KB L2 memory caches (one for each core) and supports DDR2 memories." However, many are still predicting an end to AMD's dominance in the market thanks to Intel's Conroe.
Upgrade? (Score:5, Interesting)
However, I don't know that I can convince my wife to let me spend the money on such a large overhaul again. I'm fairly happy with my AMD 64 system at the moment.
Honestly, I just hope AMD maintains their lead long enough for people to start taking notice (like Dell using AMD in the server line).
Problems with memory dividers (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.nordichardware.com/Reviews/?page=3&skr
am2 seems to be doing fine (Score:4, Interesting)
It's great to look at fx-62 results - it looks like only that processor (or if you overclock it) can
use the available bandwidth
"Frankly speaking, it's the main competitor who must be bustling now. AMD is doing great anyway. At least in terms of CPU performance. Durability of the K8 core and its capacity to adapt to new market realia is admirable: having lived without major modifications through two process technologies, dual cores, and now a new memory controller, this core meticulously responds to each improvement with performance gains. We were very skeptic about future chances of the new AMD platform against the new processor core from Intel (Intel designed the new core nearly from scratch, while AMD K8 is rather old), but our tests warmed up our interest. The situation may turn out not that simple"
AMD Catches Up in Technology and Shoots Out in Performance
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/cpu/amd-athlo
Re:Intel's roadmap to the Cornroe and beyond (Score:5, Interesting)
When we compare apples to apples (the P4 line to the K8 line) Intel actually uses more power, generates more heat, runs slower, and is more expensive.
I'm glad Intel stepped up and made a good processor. The Core Duo is a good processor, don't get me wrong. But for all the marketing buzz about Intel right now, AMD does in fact have a response.
AMD is not only rolling out Turion X2 series processors, but they've got the AM2 lineup such as the 5000+ X2, the quad core series, etc.
Re:Welcome, Intel (Score:2, Interesting)
One could then analyse the steepness of the curve and come to some conclusions, such as the best time to buy a graphics card is nine or twelve months after release, LCD panel prices are unlikely to experience the same rate of decrease in the coming twelve months than in the previous twelve months, etc. (these statements are just examples of the possible sorts of conclusions)
I'm guessing that CPUs have a reasonably shallow curve (since the product lifespan is longer than the typical motherboard or graphics card), but I'm not sure.
Re:Intel's roadmap to the Cornroe and beyond (Score:5, Interesting)
Even if the Core Duo turns out to be better than the comparable AMD chip, Intel still has ground to catch up onin the multi-chip arena due to memory bandwidth. For most people at home this might not be an issue, but for servers it can be.
Between that and the quad-core chip, it would be very interesting to see Intel manage to recapture some desktop space while AMD gets into the Server Room.
Re:[offtopic] 'Print' version is split into 10 pag (Score:3, Interesting)
Take a look at this article: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2487 [dailytech.com]
It's showing the new woodcrest chips to be somewhere between 5 - 15% faster, as opposed to Intels claimed 33%.
Finally, have you considered that AMD may just be working on something new. For a start this is their first AM2 chip, they will surely start ramping the core clock as well as the memory clock soon. And they have kept very quiet about their other future developments, not to mention any process changes (ie. catching up with Intels 65nm lead).
So while Intel may indeed recapture the top performance slot for a while it's likely to be transient until AMD release their next big thing. Which will capture the performance crown for a while until Intel release their next big thing. And so on.
What about Pacifica? (Score:2, Interesting)
Concerning nVidia chipsets: (Score:3, Interesting)
An even better mix is the AMD 8131 + nForce 2050. That gives you PCI-X AND PCIe, dedicated. It's my favorite server platform.
Re:Welcome, Intel (Score:3, Interesting)
Happy Birthday!
Anandtech's Real-Time Pricing Engine [slashdot.org] gives you real-time prices, plus a graph of the last 6 months of price changes.
I'm amazed at the fact that they log 6 months of history, and offer it to the public at no charge. Most accounting firms charge through the nose for this kind of pricing trend data.
I'm guessing that CPUs have a reasonably shallow curve (since the product lifespan is longer than the typical motherboard or graphics card), but I'm not sure
In recent years, you'd be correct. The x86 CPU market has come up against a wall, because you can only parallelize scalar x86 code so much on-the-fly. Improvements in CPU architectures like Conroe now take MUCH longer to design, for less and less performace gains than in previous years. Also, the percentage megahertz gain from process improvements is also hitting a wall, which is another reason CPU prices remain stagnant.