Anandtechs article:- Conroe vs. AM2: Memory & Performance

[RichUK]

AT article here

Look at the memory latency from the Intel x6800, thats quite amazing IMO, since this was the big advantage AMD had over netburst.

Obviously the 4MB's L2 cache makes this possible, due to less frequent transactions over the FSB to main memory.

 

[yacoub]

Meanwhile AMD is discontinuing their 1MB cache X2s.... figure that one out.

 

[Rock Hydra]

Originally posted by: yacoub
Meanwhile AMD is discontinuing their 1MB cache X2s.... figure that one out.

Maybe cause it's not necessary due to the integrated memory controller. I think the Core2 still has netburst elements in it which are still needy of L2 cache, which I believe is just part of the way the architecture is, whereas the Athlon64 arch isn't like that.

 

[blckgrffn]

I think the most revealing part of that article is how Conroe doesn't care if you have DDR2533, 667, or 800, it performs nearly the same no matter what.

Hurray for being able to get cheap-as-dirt ddr2 and keep Conroe happy at the same time This is a significant factor when choosing one or the other. Getting cheaper ram may offset the more expensive Intel based mobo, meaning you can compare the processor prices without too much worry about other components.

Nat

 

[n7]

Yeah, i'm a tad surprised that AM2 actually has a bigger performance increase when going from lower to higher end RAM than C2D does.

Good news for value RAM buyers

To me, C2D is literally a reversal of A64s vs. P4s (& X2s vs. P-Ds).

In synthetics, now AM2 wins, but in real world, C2D wins.

 

[blckgrffn]

Gotta love my $105 shipped 2 gigs DDR2 667 ram from the FS/FT forums

Just getting ready for a ~Christmas time upgrade... it should be simple to set the memory ratio down to some thing like DDR2 400 and work the FSB up from there and still get a lot of headroom from 667 or even 533...

Nat

 

[996GT2]

Well, I guess I should sell my 2 GB of OCZ Gold 667 to someone who's getting a conroe now, as it seems like DDR2-800+ really makes a difference with AM2.

 

[coldpower27]

Actually from what I remember you actually need DDR2-667 CAS4 to be at parity with Socket 939 DDR1-400 CAS2.

 

[harpoon84]

Yeah, this kind of throws the 'AM2 is cheaper overall' argument out the window.

Yes, AM2 mobos are cheaper, but you need at the very least DDR2-667, preferably DDR2-800, just to get decent performance from an AM2 based system.

Whereas with C2D cheap DDR2-533 isn't that far off from exotic DDR2-1066 levels of performance.

Yes, you may save $50 on the mobo by going AM2 instead of C2D, but how much extra will you need to spend on DDR2-800 rated RAM?