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Rick James

Senior member
Feb 17, 2009
386
0
0
We?re still not looking at a Core i7-killer (or even competitor) here. After all, AMD?s fastest offering isn?t able to match even the slowest i7 chip, unless you count gaming, where most of these quad-core chips perform so similarly that it isn?t worth factoring in the tenths of a frame.

Rather, AMD was gunning for Intel?s Core 2 Quad Q9550. That actually turns out to be a significant target, too. Aside from the DP-capable Core 2 Extreme QX9775?a $1,500 part?there is only one other Core 2 Quad left for AMD to usurp: the 3 GHz Core 2 Quad Q9650. Performance-wise, this means the Phenom II X4 955 is still an upper mid-range processor, dolled up with an unlocked clock multiplier and a platform message that bests the Core 2 Quad lineup (thanks to a strong software infrastructure supporting tweak-happy enthusiasts), yet falls short of Core i7 and its superior CrossFire/SLI ecosystem.

At the end of the day, this comes down to price for most folks. If a Phenom II X4 955 plus 790FX/GX-based motherboard plus 4 GB DDR3-1333 memory kit are the upper end of your budget (let?s call that about $500), you won?t go wrong here. We were only able to get 3.6 GHz out of the processor using AMD?s PIB heatsink/fan solution before peaking over 60 degrees C and losing Prime95 threads. Overclocking past that is going to take a more substantial cooler?and ideally not the first near-37 degree C day of the year in southern California. Conversely, AMD has a compelling collection of software to complement its hardware package?and with Overdrive 3.0 and Fusion, those apps have evolved beyond glorified BIOS modification to include a combination of extras you can use to save power, increase performance, and really take more granular control over how your PC operates.

But a Core i7 920 plus X58-based motherboard plus 6 GB DDR3-1333 kit costs about $100 more?that?s tantalizingly close, and frankly still the route we?d go given the many instances where even the 2.66 GHz processor simply walks the rest of the pack. You might not get Overdrive or Fusion, but the addition of CrossFire and SLI support is fairly significant, especially for the gamers who?ve stuck with Nvidia GPUs.

There?s no doubt that AMD is showing signs of life. The progression of its hardware plods along with the launch of this Phenom II X4 955 and the Radeon HD 4890 earlier this month. The company?s in-house software folks are making a strong appeal to enthusiasts with a couple of interesting tuning utilities. And although we aren?t expecting changes to AMD?s chipset lineup until 2010, the 790GX/FX amply addresses discrete graphics connectivity. Until then, a shift to Socket AM3/DDR3 adds single-digit percent increases to an already-efficient memory subsystem.
 
fourdegrees11

fourdegrees11

Senior member
Mar 9, 2009
441
1
81
Originally posted by: Rick James
We?re still not looking at a Core i7-killer (or even competitor) here. After all, AMD?s fastest offering isn?t able to match even the slowest i7 chip, unless you count gaming, where most of these quad-core chips perform so similarly that it isn?t worth factoring in the tenths of a frame.

Rather, AMD was gunning for Intel?s Core 2 Quad Q9550. That actually turns out to be a significant target, too. Aside from the DP-capable Core 2 Extreme QX9775?a $1,500 part?there is only one other Core 2 Quad left for AMD to usurp: the 3 GHz Core 2 Quad Q9650. Performance-wise, this means the Phenom II X4 955 is still an upper mid-range processor, dolled up with an unlocked clock multiplier and a platform message that bests the Core 2 Quad lineup (thanks to a strong software infrastructure supporting tweak-happy enthusiasts), yet falls short of Core i7 and its superior CrossFire/SLI ecosystem.

At the end of the day, this comes down to price for most folks. If a Phenom II X4 955 plus 790FX/GX-based motherboard plus 4 GB DDR3-1333 memory kit are the upper end of your budget (let?s call that about $500), you won?t go wrong here. We were only able to get 3.6 GHz out of the processor using AMD?s PIB heatsink/fan solution before peaking over 60 degrees C and losing Prime95 threads. Overclocking past that is going to take a more substantial cooler?and ideally not the first near-37 degree C day of the year in southern California. Conversely, AMD has a compelling collection of software to complement its hardware package?and with Overdrive 3.0 and Fusion, those apps have evolved beyond glorified BIOS modification to include a combination of extras you can use to save power, increase performance, and really take more granular control over how your PC operates.

But a Core i7 920 plus X58-based motherboard plus 6 GB DDR3-1333 kit costs about $100 more?that?s tantalizingly close, and frankly still the route we?d go given the many instances where even the 2.66 GHz processor simply walks the rest of the pack. You might not get Overdrive or Fusion, but the addition of CrossFire and SLI support is fairly significant, especially for the gamers who?ve stuck with Nvidia GPUs.

There?s no doubt that AMD is showing signs of life. The progression of its hardware plods along with the launch of this Phenom II X4 955 and the Radeon HD 4890 earlier this month. The company?s in-house software folks are making a strong appeal to enthusiasts with a couple of interesting tuning utilities. And although we aren?t expecting changes to AMD?s chipset lineup until 2010, the 790GX/FX amply addresses discrete graphics connectivity. Until then, a shift to Socket AM3/DDR3 adds single-digit percent increases to an already-efficient memory subsystem.
Click to expand...

This is taken directly from Toms Hardware?
 
F

Fox5

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
5,957
7
81
I would have liked to see more uncore overclocking, it seems to be where it's at as far as increasing the performance of the cpus. A few hundred extra mhz on the uncore does more for performance than ddr3 does for sure. If AMD can ever get teh uncore clocked at the same speed as the cpu, they just may have a core i7 competitor.
 
A

alyarb

Platinum Member
Jan 25, 2009
2,425
0
76
why would somebody plagiarize tomshardware? that is like being a famous chef, claiming you invented feces, and eating it.
 
T

TotalLamer

Member
Feb 13, 2009
112
0
0
What I find most disturbing is Anand's review could get the 955 to 4.2GHz running Vista 32, but only 3.9GHz on Vista 64. Something's strange is afoot!
 
S

soonerproud

Golden Member
Jun 30, 2007
1,874
0
0
Originally posted by: TotalLamer
What I find most disturbing is Anand's review could get the 955 to 4.2GHz running Vista 32, but only 3.9GHz on Vista 64. Something's strange is afoot!
Click to expand...

Could just be the result of early silicon and bugs in the process. Overclocking will probably be better on later lots as the process matures a little and bugs are worked out.

 
Gikaseixas

Gikaseixas

Platinum Member
Jul 1, 2004
2,836
218
106
My Phenom can only do 3.5 on stock vcore, Anandtech says the 955 could do 3.8 on stock, that's a good improvement.
 
F

fusion238

Member
Feb 6, 2009
49
0
0
Looks like Super Silicon!!! These are new benchs and overclocks of the Phenom 955 from these guys:

OCC Phenom 955 Benchs

In the real world bench Sciencemarks the $245 Phenom 955 sets the standard for high performance!

Couple that with the Xtreme benchs you linked where they are hitting 4, 4.4, 4.7+ Ghz on air and getting close to 7 Ghz on Ice! :thumbsup:


I just bought a Phenom 720BE just a few weeks ago and it looks like I found my next CPU by the end of the year. PS - I am not a fanatic but own CPUs and PCs from Intel and AMD.


 
T

TotalLamer

Member
Feb 13, 2009
112
0
0
4GHz on air I can see... heck... Anand got it to 4.2GHz on air with Vista 32. But 4.4GHz? 4.7GHz? Uh... ok. Sure. 0.o
 
J

jones377

Senior member
May 2, 2004
460
64
91
Originally posted by: TotalLamer
What I find most disturbing is Anand's review could get the 955 to 4.2GHz running Vista 32, but only 3.9GHz on Vista 64. Something's strange is afoot!
Click to expand...

Imagine how fast it could go running DOS/Win3.11 !
 
cusideabelincoln

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
3,275
46
91
Originally posted by: Anand
It has taken AMD more than long enough, but the company is finally in a situation where its processors are competitive in the performance mainstream market segment. The Phenom II X4 955, 945/940 and the Phenom II X3 720 are all very competitive at their price points. Compared to the Core 2 Quad Q9550 the new X4 955 generally comes out ahead.

From a longevity standpoint, the AM3 platform is much wiser to invest in than LGA-775. Intel has already shown all of its cards there, and there aren't going to be any faster Core 2 Quads - just cheaper ones. By the end of this year Intel will begin transitioning to LGA-1156 and 775 will start fading away. By contrast, AMD's Socket-AM3 is going to be the flagship for the company for all of 2009 and it'll continue to live on into 2010. If you're choosing between Socket-AM3 and LGA-775, AMD has made that choice very easy - Phenom II is the way to go if you're concerned about a long term upgrade path, not to mention that the chips are generally cheaper than their Intel equivalents.

Where the situation gets tougher is when you look at the $245 Phenom II 955 vs. Intel's $284 Core i7-920. The i7 route costs you another ~$40 on the CPU and another $10 - $70 on the motherboard depending on what AM3 board you get for the 955. For around $100 extra you can go with an i7-920, which is anywhere from 0 - 40% faster than the Phenom II X4 955 depending on what application you're looking at. Now if you're budget constrained then the i7 isn't really an option, but as applications and workloads become more threaded the i7 could be a wiser long-term purchase.

The cheaper Phenom II parts, especially once you get down to the X3 720, don't really even touch the i7's price points so the comparison isn't really valid there. But the 955 is getting dangerously close to the cost of an entry level i7 platform, and if you don't already have an AM2+ motherboard the i7 may be worth considering. Especially now that DDR2 and DDR3 are much closer in price.
Click to expand...

Ok so now AMD has a chip that will rival the higher end Core 2 Quads on the still-alive AM2/AMD3 platform. But how much farther can AMD take it? To me in order for AM3/AM2 to be a better platform from a longevity standpoint than 775, AMD will have to bring out a chip that rivals Core i7 and still work with current motherboards. Will AMD actually do this? Anyone know of any information or even rumors on the AM3 platform? Are we just going to see higher-clocked Phenom IIs?
 
T

TotalLamer

Member
Feb 13, 2009
112
0
0
Don't count on anything from AMD to rival i7 until early 2011 when Bulldozer appears. At which time the i7 will have been long since replaced. Le sigh.
 
Zstream

Zstream

Diamond Member
Oct 24, 2005
3,395
277
136
Originally posted by: TotalLamer
Don't count on anything from AMD to rival i7 until early 2011 when Bulldozer appears. At which time the i7 will have been long since replaced. Le sigh.
Click to expand...

I do not believe that Intel has anything new to add in terms of architecture anytime soon. They have a die shrink but that is about it as far as I know.
 
T

TotalLamer

Member
Feb 13, 2009
112
0
0
Originally posted by: Zstream
Originally posted by: TotalLamer
Don't count on anything from AMD to rival i7 until early 2011 when Bulldozer appears. At which time the i7 will have been long since replaced. Le sigh.
Click to expand...

I do not believe that Intel has anything new to add in terms of architecture anytime soon. They have a die shrink but that is about it as far as I know.
Click to expand...

Yes... but early 2011... that's almost 2 years from now. Surely Intel will ramp up performance quite a bit in that time. As for AMD, it seems like they'll be stuck in the mud for that entire time.
 
S

soccerballtux

Lifer
Dec 30, 2004
12,553
2
76
Who cares, if I can get 3.8-4.0 on air with an Uncore that brings me within 5% of a q9550 @ 3.8Ghz...then everything is solved.
We're at a point now where something faster than this just doesn't matter, and won't for some time--Windows 7 is faster than Vista, and I don't see any important games coming up in the future that will require a Nehalem. At gaming resolutions, we'll be golden for 5 years.
 
veri745

veri745

Golden Member
Oct 11, 2007
1,163
4
81
Originally posted by: TotalLamer
Don't count on anything from AMD to rival i7 until early 2011 when Bulldozer appears. At which time the i7 will have been long since replaced. Le sigh.
Click to expand...

The roadmap for Istanbul appears to be pulled in to this year.
The Inq

*edit* wrong link
 
F

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
6,666
3
81
Originally posted by: TotalLamer
What I find most disturbing is Anand's review could get the 955 to 4.2GHz running Vista 32, but only 3.9GHz on Vista 64. Something's strange is afoot!
Click to expand...

Actually, that's not unusual. A 64-bit OS is more demanding on the CPU than a 32-bit OS. Since the intro of WinXP64, many folks have encountered lower overclocks than with 32 bit OSes.
 
G

glugglug

Diamond Member
Jun 9, 2002
5,340
1
81
Originally posted by: TotalLamer
What I find most disturbing is Anand's review could get the 955 to 4.2GHz running Vista 32, but only 3.9GHz on Vista 64. Something's strange is afoot!
Click to expand...

64 bit mode gives you not only double the operand size of 32-bit mode, but double the number of registers as well. And it save more SSE2 info in function calls than 32-bit mode does. So it is using more of the logic on the chip. Not surprising that it would hit issues at lower clock speeds than 32-bit mode does.
 
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