Will AMD dual core require new chipsets/motherboards?

[NFS4]

I don't want to invest in a new PCI Express SLI system now if it isn't going to support dual core next year. So what's the word?

 

[ViRGE]

No, dual core chips will come out in S939 varieties that work on current 939 mobos.

 

[coolred]

Yeah supposedly a BIOS update would be the most you would need, maybe not even that though.


What kind of rig are you looking at now?

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: coolred
Yeah supposedly a BIOS update would be the most you would need, maybe not even that though.


What kind of rig are you looking at now?

You can see my current rig in my sig. I want at least an SLI rig with PCI Express support. I'm looking to upgrade from my 3200+ to whatever is the best bang for the buck right now.

 

[cheesehead]

Wait until NF4, and get a Winchester 3000+ or 3200+. They both overclock very well, and you can get crazy-go-nuts performance on air.
Here's a sample system:
Winchester 3200+-190$, after SLK-948u heatsink, AS5, and panaflo fan, 240$.
NF4 SLI board, estimated price 200$
1GB Kingston HyperX PC4000, 200$
GEforce 6800GT-250$
Coolmax 400w power supply-40$
Inexpensive aluminum case-25$ (see NewEgg, they have three to choose from)
+12$ of fans
2x160GB SATA drives-250$. (raid 'em if you want)
Mad Dog DVD burner, Dual Layer (compgeeks.com) 66$
Logitech MX510-22$ at Amazon
Keyboard-15$
TOTAL: 1250$
(+ OS and other things)
This thing will ZOOM. At 250mhz, a 3200+ will be running at 2.5 ghz-not to shabby, eh? With watercooling (add about 100$ or so) and you can maybe get out 2.7.

 

[Hajime]

Holy cow. Where is that GF 6800GT for $250?

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: Hajime
Holy cow. Where is that GF 6800GT for $250?

what about the 1GB HyperX pc4000 for $200

 

[batmanuel]

Aren't the dual cores going to be released initially on S940 as Opteron/Athlon FX chips? I know there are going to be S939 chips, but aren't they expected to be a bit farther down the road (early 2006ish) than the S940 chips?

Or is the "Toledo" chip on the dual core roadmap a S939 product that is planned to be released at the same time as the dual core Opertons? That's one thing I'm not clear on when looking at the roadmaps, which socket they intend to use in the Athlon FX segment.

It seems like it might be easier to manage the product launch with a single socket and registered RAM initially, with a later release of a dual core S939 chip once they get the first batch of Operons out the door. Has AMD said anything specific about this, or are the details of the launch still a bit vague?

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: batmanuel
Aren't the dual cores going to be released initially on S940 as Opteron/Athlon FX chips? I know there are going to be S939 chips, but aren't they expected to be a bit farther down the road (early 2006ish) than the S940 chips?

Or is the "Toledo" chip on the dual core roadmap a S939 product that is planned to be released at the same time as the dual core Opertons? That's one thing I'm not clear on when looking at the roadmaps, which socket they intend to use in the Athlon FX segment.

It seems like it might be easier to manage the product launch with a single socket and registered RAM initially, with a later release of a dual core S939 chip once they get the first batch of Operons out the door. Has AMD said anything specific about this, or are the details of the launch still a bit vague?

I dunno. I sent an IM to Anand, but he hasn't responded yet.

 

[Thermalrock]

well if you go 940 youll have to go ecc memory too. id rather just wait for the 939 version that doesnt need that crap. im no server so i dont care for ram thats alil slower and more expensive just to have error correction. if i calculated sensetive physical equations to predict the flight of an a-bomb id definitely go ecc though. at least if there were a possibility that bomb would actually be launched.

 

[Dubb]

I'm really curious what dual and multi-core will do for software (i.e. rendering engines) that are licensed per cpu or per 2 cpu. if I buy a dual cpu, dual core opteron workstation in a year or two, do I need to buy 2x as much software?

 

[Thermalrock]

no amd pushed ms to look at dual core like one chip and ms announced it will. they said they will deal with a dual core chip like they would witha single core chip and that they would do this to enable ms customers to benefit from this new technology without having to worry about additional software costs.

 

[dug777]

unusually generous of them But i guess it would be marketing suicide to charge u twice

 

[vailr]

Originally posted by: NFS4
I don't want to invest in a new PCI Express SLI system now if it isn't going to support dual core next year. So what's the word?

ATI may have its own SLI-type chipset, if you want to use 2 ATI video cards in an SLI-type motherboard.
May arrive about the same time as the "WinXP-64 bit edition" is released
(4 months from now?).

 

[sandorski]

Unless chipset manufacturers have engineering samples to test Dual Core chips, I'd think there is some risk in buying a mobo now for Dual Core later. It wouldn't be the first time that such issues have existed. That said, theoretically it should work and as long as you get a mobo from a reputable manufacturer you should be ok.

 

[vailr]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
NF4 SLI board, estimated price 200$
1GB Kingston HyperX PC4000, 200$
GEforce 6800GT-250$
Coolmax 400w power supply-40$

I'm thinking that a bigger PSU, maybe ~520Watts, will be needed for SLI (and later, swapping out/upgrading to a dual-core CPU).