Build a AMD X2 3800+ based system now or wait until Conroe?

[monstermunch]

"You asked for my opinion and I am telling you..."

Sorry if I seemed like I was ignore your opinion (I'm not), I'm partly playing devil's advocate and partly trying to convince myself to upgrade now because I've waited so long. I appreciate your advice.

Regs: "That's actually a good point. Who's to say what we saw in the preview was a souped up conroe that's going to be 800 dollars while the AM2 will perform at least on par with the 200-400 dollar counter parts?"

Yes, I'm quite suspicious too. If they were that confident, they would be sending out preview chips I reckon.

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: monstermunch
"You asked for my opinion and I am telling you..."

Sorry if I seemed like I was ignore your opinion (I'm not), I'm partly playing devil's advocate and partly trying to convince myself to upgrade now because I've waited so long. I appreciate your advice.

Regs: "That's actually a good point. Who's to say what we saw in the preview was a souped up conroe that's going to be 800 dollars while the AM2 will perform at least on par with the 200-400 dollar counter parts?"

Yes, I'm quite suspicious too. If they were that confident, they would be sending out preview chips I reckon.

cause they say it was a 2.66ghz conroe verus a 2.8ghz X2...I mean we can all be skeptical they didn't not tweak the conroe and somewhat hamper thje AMD, but nowhere to the tune the INtel won the benches.....There will be lower speed conroes with 4mb so I dont think there will be much of a change versus AM2 or when the officially are reviewed....

They will be the leaders by a good margin...

I think Conroe will be had by the masses (non OEMs) by Late July....2 months is a short time, but if it is too long for you to get by then by all means get an optero or X2 and you will be happy...

The pentium D chips are dogs that run too hot and only OC with expensive boards...How about yonah chips...clock for clock as good as AMD chips and may OC a tad bit better...may be worth a look at as well...

 

[imported_UncivilizedAMD]

Originally posted by: monstermunch
"You asked for my opinion and I am telling you..."

Sorry if I seemed like I was ignore your opinion (I'm not), I'm partly playing devil's advocate and partly trying to convince myself to upgrade now because I've waited so long. I appreciate your advice.

Regs: "That's actually a good point. Who's to say what we saw in the preview was a souped up conroe that's going to be 800 dollars while the AM2 will perform at least on par with the 200-400 dollar counter parts?"

Yes, I'm quite suspicious too. If they were that confident, they would be sending out preview chips I reckon.

Well there are reviews of Conroe ES chips all over Xtremesystems.org forums if you haven't checked.
Here's a happening current thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98919 with a real world benchmarks for many that have been complaining. There's a tmpgenc encoding test that compares a fx-60 oc'ed to 2.9 and a conroe 2.13 oc'ed to 2.9 on air. FX-60 finishes the task in 21.06 minutes, Conroe finishes in 15.22 minutes which equates to approximately 38% difference in favor of Conroe. So for Op who has doubts of a 30% increase, this should give you more confidence of Conroe's performance over X2.

And the conroe 2.13 is expected at 244. Even if its 300 bux or 400 bux, the performance is certainly way better than amd equivalents at those prices.

From the last anandtech preview which was only a month ago, am2 barely performed better than the x2, so I'd be confident in saying that Conroe will run over Am2 also.

 

[monstermunch]

OK, I'm convinced now that the Conroe release is going to be a big deal in terms of price and performance. I'm concerned about Linux support for the new motherboards however, as I basically have to wait for people to post in forums that "Linux works!" on it. It's usually best to wait a few months after a new architecture release as well for the more mature motherboard to come out, so I'd be scared I wouldn't upgrade for about a year from now.

I'm thinking of a compromise:
For now, buy a case, PSU, 7600GT card, Pentium 940 Dual Core, Pentium 4 Motherboard, 2Gb of PC5300 (667 MHz) memory, SATA II hard disk. I'll be able to play current games and the dual-core+memory will increase my desktop performance.

The motherboard+cpu will cost less that £200. I should be able to keep the rest of the components if I upgrade to a Conroe chip and motherboard, yes? This means I could upgrade again early next year to Conroe if it lives up to its promises and I won't lose that much money. Compared to the AMD, I would lose £100 more on the chip and £130 more on the slower memory as I'd need to replace it.

Does this sound like a sensible plan or would some of the parts not work with Conroe?

 

[TekDemon]

Am I crazy are or all your prices initially in english pounds and then later in dollars? Just wondering why that is lol. Not that I have anything against the english pound since I've spent a fair amount of time in England but it's just odd to see changing currency symbols as you read through a post.

Anyways as for myself I'm gonna wait it out...it's so close I can almost taste it...

Plus I don't really compute nearly as hardcore as I used to so the whole thing is really more just to replace my dying system.

 

[monstermunch]

This seems to be a $ forum so I thought I would get better advice if I used $s instead of £s.

Does anyone have any comments on going the Intel route now? It does seem like I won't have to replace the memory if I upgrade in a year but I just want to check. 800Mhz memory will be out by then, but I can't imagine the speed increase is worth waiting for.

 

[jwalker46]

I build a new pc about the same frequency as you mentioned (every 3-4 years), and face the same decision. My 2 cents (2 pence?) is: wait a few months (Sept?) until the new Conroe chips and mobos are out and have been tested.

If you need a new pc "now", why not build a budget box: use your current HDD and video card, and get either a single-core cheap AMD or the Intel D 805 (either US$130?). Then, in Sept., move up and use this budget box as either a backup or as a 'NAS' box.

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: monstermunch
OK, I'm convinced now that the Conroe release is going to be a big deal in terms of price and performance. I'm concerned about Linux support for the new motherboards however, as I basically have to wait for people to post in forums that "Linux works!" on it. It's usually best to wait a few months after a new architecture release as well for the more mature motherboard to come out, so I'd be scared I wouldn't upgrade for about a year from now.

I'm thinking of a compromise:
For now, buy a case, PSU, 7600GT card, Pentium 940 Dual Core, Pentium 4 Motherboard, 2Gb of PC5300 (667 MHz) memory, SATA II hard disk. I'll be able to play current games and the dual-core+memory will increase my desktop performance.

The motherboard+cpu will cost less that £200. I should be able to keep the rest of the components if I upgrade to a Conroe chip and motherboard, yes? This means I could upgrade again early next year to Conroe if it lives up to its promises and I won't lose that much money. Compared to the AMD, I would lose £100 more on the chip and £130 more on the slower memory as I'd need to replace it.

Does this sound like a sensible plan or would some of the parts not work with Conroe?

sounds good to me!!! Maybe even look at the 920D and OC slightly (940 speeds should be a given) and save more and get the 7900GT like mentioned above...

 

[Kakumba]

save more money: get an 805 and OC the hell out of it. and the 7900GT would be a better investment.

 

[DrMrLordX]

If he's going to go that route, he'd be better off getting the 915 when it comes out.

 

[coldpower27]

Originally posted by: Duvie

Originally posted by: monstermunch
OK, I'm convinced now that the Conroe release is going to be a big deal in terms of price and performance. I'm concerned about Linux support for the new motherboards however, as I basically have to wait for people to post in forums that "Linux works!" on it. It's usually best to wait a few months after a new architecture release as well for the more mature motherboard to come out, so I'd be scared I wouldn't upgrade for about a year from now.

I'm thinking of a compromise:
For now, buy a case, PSU, 7600GT card, Pentium 940 Dual Core, Pentium 4 Motherboard, 2Gb of PC5300 (667 MHz) memory, SATA II hard disk. I'll be able to play current games and the dual-core+memory will increase my desktop performance.

The motherboard+cpu will cost less that £200. I should be able to keep the rest of the components if I upgrade to a Conroe chip and motherboard, yes? This means I could upgrade again early next year to Conroe if it lives up to its promises and I won't lose that much money. Compared to the AMD, I would lose £100 more on the chip and £130 more on the slower memory as I'd need to replace it.

Does this sound like a sensible plan or would some of the parts not work with Conroe?

sounds good to me!!! Maybe even look at the 920D and OC slightly (940 speeds should be a given) and save more and get the 7900GT like mentioned above...

I wouldn't go any lower the the Pentium D 930 now considering Intel prices the 920 and 930 idnetically now.

 

[xtreme26]

Originally posted by: UncivilizedAMD

Originally posted by: monstermunch
"You asked for my opinion and I am telling you..."

Sorry if I seemed like I was ignore your opinion (I'm not), I'm partly playing devil's advocate and partly trying to convince myself to upgrade now because I've waited so long. I appreciate your advice.

Regs: "That's actually a good point. Who's to say what we saw in the preview was a souped up conroe that's going to be 800 dollars while the AM2 will perform at least on par with the 200-400 dollar counter parts?"

Yes, I'm quite suspicious too. If they were that confident, they would be sending out preview chips I reckon.

Well there are reviews of Conroe ES chips all over Xtremesystems.org forums if you haven't checked.
Here's a happening current thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98919 with a real world benchmarks for many that have been complaining. There's a tmpgenc encoding test that compares a fx-60 oc'ed to 2.9 and a conroe 2.13 oc'ed to 2.9 on air. FX-60 finishes the task in 21.06 minutes, Conroe finishes in 15.22 minutes which equates to approximately 38% difference in favor of Conroe. So for Op who has doubts of a 30% increase, this should give you more confidence of Conroe's performance over X2.

And the conroe 2.13 is expected at 244. Even if its 300 bux or 400 bux, the performance is certainly way better than amd equivalents at those prices.

From the last anandtech preview which was only a month ago, am2 barely performed better than the x2, so I'd be confident in saying that Conroe will run over Am2 also.

holy shizz those ocs are amazingg

 

[Ika]

Conroe will also run on current-gen intel mobos. Also, Intel has the sheer weight to throw around to wage a price war with AMD, if necessary. Unfortunately for you, with conroe turning out the way it is, I see no reason for Intel to sell Conroe at the same prices AMD will be selling AM2.

 

[mithrandir2001]

I'm waiting for Conroe. So should you.

I had been considering an Athlon 64 socket 939 system but waiting a few more months appears to be a very sensible strategy right now, more so than usual. Now I understand why Dell has been blowing out delivered P4 systems for under $300: they have to clear out for Conroe. It's going to be big.

Take heart: I have a 1.4GHz Celeron Tualatin runnning on an 8 year old BX440 mobo using ancient PC100 memory. If anybody needs to bring up their spec, it's me.

 

[JPH1121]

If you are willing to wait for Conroe...consider waiting a tad bit longer for 65nm AMD parts...

Even if Intel MSRPs their ultra high end part at $500, expect market supply to be low and demand to be high...retailers will inflate Conroe prices.

Either way, you are going to end up paying more for a Conroe that a similar AMD.

 

[imported_UncivilizedAMD]

Originally posted by: JPH1121
If you are willing to wait for Conroe...consider waiting a tad bit longer for 65nm AMD parts...

Even if Intel MSRPs their ultra high end part at $500, expect market supply to be low and demand to be high...retailers will inflate Conroe prices.

Either way, you are going to end up paying more for a Conroe that a similar AMD.

2.13ghz Conroe is 244 msrp. Clock for clock faster than amd by at least 30% from previews so an equivalent AMD has to be at least a 4600+ and thats 558 msrp.

So are you telling me that Retailers will double the MSRP price of Conroe?

Doesn't sound likely, unless you have hard evidence.