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Wait for Bulldozer or get X6?

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perdomot

Golden Member
Been considering getting an X6 Phenom for my rig but I keep wondering what kind of performance I'd see from a Bulldozer rig in comparison. Do you guys think an X6 in my rig would be a good match for the forthcoming BD? I haven't seen any performance numbers for BD so I'm unsure. Please advise. Thanks.
 
Do you need 6 cores or do you just want 6 cores?
If you can drop the X6 in what you have then for $199 its not a over costly upgrade. BD will require a new board and Ram.

Unless you use programs that use 6 cores I doubt it would be worth it.
 
The Bulldozer release is not imminent. I don't expect it until at least June 2011, and probably closer to the end of the year.
 
There's been a lot of hype over Bulldozer, but we really don't know much about the new architecture yet. Could be a flop, so I wouldn't get your hopes up. I'm sure it will be a nice upgrade over K10, but I'm not expecting a huge jump in performance. I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed because they're expecting a lot more from the architecture.

But anyway, I'd just buy based on your current needs and not worry too much about what's on the horizon. As mentioned Bulldozer isn't exactly close to being released, you'd still have quite a wait.

Also, what do you plan to do on your computer? Chances are you don't need six cores and a Phenom II X4 would be more than adequate for your needs. X6 won't help any with gaming, but it will provide a nice performance boost for highly threaded applications like rendering, encoding, etc. If you're doing a lot of work like that, though, you might consider Intel. More expensive, but they also offer higher performance.
 
OCGuy said:
Why wait up to a year?
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+1

What is your rig now? As Marlin1975 asked, do you need an X6 or is this more of an upgrade itch because you want an X6?

Personally, regardless the answer above, whatever your reasoning for wanting an X6 now I would not set that reasoning aside on the hopes of waiting it out for BD (zambezi) to come around.
 
I think this is a clear case of just going ahead and upgrading now. Bulldozer is a year away and will require a new motherboard and memory. You just need to ask yourself if you need or want a 6 core chip considering you already got 3? AMD just released the X6 1075T.
 
nenforcer said:
I think this is a clear case of just going ahead and upgrading now. Bulldozer is a year away and will require a new motherboard and memory. You just need to ask yourself if you need or want a 6 core chip considering you already got 3? AMD just released the X6 1075T.
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but he already has a quad. I'm sticking with my setup until AT LEAST Bulldozer. I've got 8GB of RAM, why would I do away with that??? I'll be able to throw new graphics cards in this bad boy until my CPU dies.
 
my 720BE unlocks and OC's to 3.8, really no need for a 1090T but i bought one anyway - noticeable difference in everyday use? no, not at all

noticeable difference in encode/benching/OCing/and multitasking? - yes
 
Rhoxed said:
my 720BE unlocks and OC's to 3.8, really no need for a 1090T but i bought one anyway - noticeable difference in everyday use? no, not at all

noticeable difference in encode/benching/OCing/and multitasking? - yes
Click to expand...

Video encoding is the most intense work I do which is why the X6 looks nice to me. Not sure how much of a bump I would get from BD but if its like the C2D to Core I increase it might be worth waiting for.
 
perdomot said:
Video encoding is the most intense work I do which is why the X6 looks nice to me. Not sure how much of a bump I would get from BD but if its like the C2D to Core I increase it might be worth waiting for.
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is it really that bad with only 3 cores? Can you just queue it up at night and let it go?
 
It's not that bad with 3 cores but with all the new stuff around, it feels like my cpu is getting ancient especially since I switched to a SSD.
 
If you fell that desperate upgrade, but if you don't mind THAT much i would say wait for a more "worthy" upgrade for your money but then again you will need to upgrade you motherboard for Bulldozer (800 Mobo chipsets may not have Bulldozer compatility unless they have AM3+ or till 900 Mobo chipsets come out).
 
A Phenom II is hardly ancient, but if you do very little gaming (guessing, since you only have a 5670) but lots of encoding, maybe you should have gone with the X4 or X6 in the first place, even if that had meant giving up some clock speed. Maybe you can try unlocking the fourth core?

It really depends, but if you run apps that use 6 cores, you would almost double performance. If you run lots of apps, such as games, that don't make efficient use of more than 2-3 cores, then there would be no difference. In fact, it might be a bit slower because there's less L3 cache per core. The X3 is an excellent gaming CPU because of the high cache to core ratio.
 
perdomot said:
It's not that bad with 3 cores but with all the new stuff around, it feels like my cpu is getting ancient especially since I switched to a SSD.
Click to expand...

It's really fun to upgrade computers. But it's important not to overdo it. Your current computer is in no way ancient. In many ways you're right in the sweet spot with 3 cores. I wouldn't upgrade your computer for another year. More than anything else buying an X6 will simply make your computer a better space heater while simultaneously making your wallet lighter.
 
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If you plan to do a lot of encoding work, the X6 is a great choice for the money. If you game, or want a multi-use CPU, you already have a good one. Even if you have the upgrade itch, a faster X4 would be a better gaming choice, unless you really need the encoding power.
 
I try to find an excuse to update at least 3x per year. Unfortunately, amd hasn't been pushing intel very hard of late so it's been harder to accomplish recently. all I've been able to justify this year so far is a gtx 460 for home and a thuban at the office. you know, because openoffice 3.2 + ADP is extremely cpu intensive and, um, stuff.
 
The X6 looks fun, and nearly future proof for many years.

Get it and use it as an office machine after its retired. It'll run office 2017 with no problems!
 
There are also rumors of new X6 processors releasing next quarter. You can wait until they release, may be the prices will drop a little.
 
I'd get the x6 now and then get BD when it comes out if you primarily video edit. It will be twice as fast running the x6 for video editing, and BD is far enough out that it's still worth getting at launch, assuming the gains in video editing are as big as expected on BD
 
busydude said:
There are also rumors of new X6 processors releasing next quarter. You can wait until they release, may be the prices will drop a little.
Click to expand...
I'm in different situation than the OP; namely just having an itch. And that itch says: Go with X6, but wait for a 95W model. Alas, the 95W 1055T has not crossed my path yet, and therefore the rumors certainly do inspire (unjustified) hope. 😉
 
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