A good thing about AM2 appearing to be a letdown..

[atybimf]

..is that now I don't have to resist temptations to uselessly upgrade before Conroe! Otherwise, so far, I've been dissappointed with AM2. Just though I'd share the bright side of things with everyone .

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: atybimf
..is that now I don't have to resist temptations so upgrade before Conroe! Otherwise, so far, I've been dissappointed with AM2. Just though I'd share the bright side of things with everyone .

Unless they come out with a 150$ X2.... then you will not be tempted.

 

[atybimf]

Originally posted by: Budman

Originally posted by: atybimf
..is that now I don't have to resist temptations so upgrade before Conroe! Otherwise, so far, I've been dissappointed with AM2. Just though I'd share the bright side of things with everyone .

Unless they come out with a 150$ X2.... then you will not be tempted.

True..true

 

[Greenman]

I don't see why you would call AM2 a letdown, it's exactly what they said it would be, a new socket and DDR2.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: Greenman
I don't see why you would call AM2 a letdown, it's exactly what they said it would be, a new socket and DDR2.

Cause Conroe is so much more.
Intel, after years of having nothing new while AMD marched ahead, leapfrogged AMD as they finally stalled.

 

[Snooper]

One thing to keep in mind: AMD is "stalled" right now because Intel has been "stalled" for the last couple of years. Now that Intel appears to be "in the game" once more, It's AMDs turn to turn up the heat.

This is the reason that I like to see the top end CPUs neck and neck (heck the bottom end ones too!). It forces both companies to countinue to pull out all the stops to make the best CPU possible and sell it as cheap as possible. When there is no competition, there is stagnation.

I remember back several years ago when the Pentium design was just dominating the market. AMD couldn't touch it and Intel just sat on there tails with speed bump once per quarter. Like clock work. Slow clock work. Things didn't change until AMD came out with a competitive chip and basically forced Intel into actually working on improved designs.

 

[Grimace111]

 

[Makaveli]

well said snooper

 

[atybimf]

Originally posted by: Snooper
One thing to keep in mind: AMD is "stalled" right now because Intel has been "stalled" for the last couple of years. Now that Intel appears to be "in the game" once more, It's AMDs turn to turn up the heat.

This is the reason that I like to see the top end CPUs neck and neck (heck the bottom end ones too!). It forces both companies to countinue to pull out all the stops to make the best CPU possible and sell it as cheap as possible. When there is no competition, there is stagnation.

I remember back several years ago when the Pentium design was just dominating the market. AMD couldn't touch it and Intel just sat on there tails with speed bump once per quarter. Like clock work. Slow clock work. Things didn't change until AMD came out with a competitive chip and basically forced Intel into actually working on improved designs.

Yup, very true. That's how it seems to work.

 

[Chris2wire]

Trust me, AM2 doesnt seem like much now, but the increased memory handling capabilities will be huge in the future as cpus get faster and more capable. While AM2 itself is nothing exciting, the concept as a whole is a huge step forward towards making cpus faster in an age where clock speed has hit a barrier.

 

[gobucks]

you know, we really have no idea of the speeds that we're gonna see on final chips from either company. Sure, at 2.8GHz, Conroe is faster than a dual core athlon FX at 2.8GHz. However, we've seen previews of 2.8GHz Banias and Yonah cores also, but the fastest production speed we've seen is 2.13GHz. And since the changes in AM2 are so small, I expect them to have pretty good process control and we should see some pretty nice speeds on them fairly quickly.

The fact is, there won't be a blowout; there never is. Even over the last 2 years, when Intel's processors were absolute garbage, they managed to clock them fast enough and price them low enough that they were roughly comparable to A64's overall, although the AMD chips still were a bit faster. AMD was getting chips that could have been binned much higher - 3000+'s were hitting 2.6-2.7GHz - they could have easily released processors in the 2.6-2.8GHz range well before they did, and they could have made sure that their entire product line really dominated Intel's by a huge margin. But there was nothing for them to gain by doing that, so they simply assigned clockspeeds to performance ratings that would allow them to just squeak out a victory without hurting their profit margins by losing out on high end sales. Intel will no doubt do exactly the same thing, and so the only place AMD won't be able to compete is in the absolute high end, $1000 and up CPUs, which in reality is like 100 people with more money than common sense.

All I'm saying is that Conroe will be good, and it's nice for AMD to have some competition again, but don't think for a minute that Intel is suddenly gonna be the "bargain" CPU company. AMD will, like always, be the company with the best values at the majority of price points.

 

[AzNPinkTuv]

its nice seeing the performance crown change that way competition exists and thus lower prices =)

 

[w00t]

wth would you need an upgrade you have an opteron 165 at 2.7ghz two gigs of ram a x1900xt oc'd. you have a nice computer stop getting upgrade happy and wait till conroe if you want an upgrade get a sound card, case, speakers, monitor. unless you like that case and you don't want a 5.1 speaker setup

 

[Operandi]

AM2 is a socket, Conroe is new core architecture comparing the two makes no sense. AMD's real answer to Intel's new CPU in 2007 will most likely ride on AM2 along with current Athlon64s.

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Grimace111

Well said!

 

[Ricemarine]

Maybe when Socket am2 is changed to lga, we might see something better out of amd.... Too bad lga is only meant for socket f so far... and intel lga775's .

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Ricemarine
Maybe when Socket am2 is changed to lga, we might see something better out of amd.... Too bad lga is only meant for socket f so far... and intel lga775's .

Who cares what the pin-out configuration is? Its whats in the CPU core that matters.

 

[Ricemarine]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: Ricemarine
Maybe when Socket am2 is changed to lga, we might see something better out of amd.... Too bad lga is only meant for socket f so far... and intel lga775's .

Who cares what the pin-out configuration is? Its whats in the CPU core that matters.

There was a review about it... LGA = higher clock speeds...

 

[DrMrLordX]

Originally posted by: Budman

Unless they come out with a 150$ X2.... then you will not be tempted.

I'm already tempted by the 35W X2 3800+. If Intel procedes with the price roadmaps they've already released for Conroe, the X2 3800+ will have to drop in price just to account for performance differences. $100-$150 would not be out of the question.

That being said, many of Duvie's remarks about Intel's price roadmaps make me wonder about Conroe/Merom chip shortages. Low initial yields + artificially low prices + large performance advantage over AMD =

1). A price crash on Presler/Cedar Mill parts
2). A price crash on AMD's AM2 lineup
3). Conroe/Merom shortages until Intel can improve yields.

 

[atybimf]

Originally posted by: w00t
wth would you need an upgrade you have an opteron 165 at 2.7ghz two gigs of ram a x1900xt oc'd. you have a nice computer stop getting upgrade happy and wait till conroe if you want an upgrade get a sound card, case, speakers, monitor. unless you like that case and you don't want a 5.1 speaker setup

Correction - 1 gig of RAM. Hehe , but I get your point. But who isn't tempted by the latest and greatest?

Anyhow, I like my 2.1 speakers and sound quality isn't a big deal with me. I'm saving up for a 2005WFP and Lian-Li case and beefy 600W Fortron PSU.

 

[HiME]

as AM2 is going to be using the same model names as 939, there's the rule of "newer == more expansive"

even though 939's price would drop, i don't think it'll be a huge one

the 35W X2 3800+ is probably the most interesting CPU in the line for now,
you can expect the 35W X2 3800+ to be the same price as today's A64 3800+

 

[Chris2wire]

Lets not forget... Conroe is not the end of the line.

you *think* holding out for Conroe will get you a great upgrade. But what happens when 1 week before Conroe is released that AMD announces its new CPU that trounces the Conroe? Then you'll be waiting LONGER to upgrade...

The point is just upgrade and get it over with and have fun... if you keep waiting for the best to come around so you can upgrade, then you'll never upgrade because something better will always be paper-launched and in the making.

And dont say AMD trouncing Conroe is impossible... Lets not forget the mighty P4 getting outdone by the Athlon XPs. And lets not forget the great Barton core that raised the bar that much more. AMD has always responded and has done it with something that has a better price-performance ratio.

Conroe will be no different. AMD will be there with an answer on paper, and you'll hold off on upgrading for even longer.

be like me... upgrade now. when you see something you like later, sell your stuff and upgrade. then do it again, and again.

The point is if you wait then you'll die very unsatisfied. Live life and enjoy it as things become available.

 

[Shadow Conception]

I saw a short segment on CNN Money that involved the war with AMD against Intel. It seems that AMD's not going to last as long as it seems against Intel, as they said. AMD's net worth is a mere $15 million, while Intel's is a monster $140 million. I think AMD is finally starting to show its imperfections in that scenario. It's all temporary. It's like Microsoft. Ultimately, they eliminated nearly all competition from the horizon.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception
I saw a short segment on CNN Money that involved the war with AMD against Intel. It seems that AMD's not going to last as long as it seems against Intel, as they said. AMD's net worth is a mere $15 million, while Intel's is a monster $140 million. I think AMD is finally starting to show its imperfections in that scenario. It's all temporary. It's like Microsoft. Ultimately, they eliminated nearly all competition from the horizon.

That $140 million didn't help them prevent AMD from handing them their ass in hand a basket with the Athlon 64.

 

[Pariah]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception
I saw a short segment on CNN Money that involved the war with AMD against Intel. It seems that AMD's not going to last as long as it seems against Intel, as they said. AMD's net worth is a mere $15 million, while Intel's is a monster $140 million. I think AMD is finally starting to show its imperfections in that scenario. It's all temporary. It's like Microsoft. Ultimately, they eliminated nearly all competition from the horizon.

I don't know what Intel's net worth is as a company, but I'm pretty sure you left off a few zero's on your $140 million estimate. Intel's 4th quarter results were $10.2 billion in revenues with a $2.5 billion net profit. I would guess Intel is worth a whole lot closer to $140 billion than $140 million.

That $140 million didn't help them prevent AMD from handing them their ass in hand a basket with the Athlon 64.

Let me say it again, $2.5 billion profit in the 4th quarter of 2005, nearly a 25% profit margin. $8.7 billion net profit for 2005. I wish I could get my ass handed to me like that. You are sorely mistaken if you think Intel's huge piles of cash don't give it an advantage over AMD, if for no other reason, then it allows Intel to completely screw up, and not take and financial hit, let alone be in financial peril like AMD would be.