Yes, I've enjoyed AMD processors, but why am I waiting for AMD now?

[bupkus]

I like AMD processors to a large degree cause I liked the cheap motherboards with real good IGPs that you could find thrown in for peanuts.

So what the heck is going on with AMD? I want to pass my current 939 X2 6150 computer on to someone else and upgrade to where I can use some of that DDR2 memory I bought just before the bottom fell out of the price. :frown:

I'm getting a little chubby over Wolfdale but man I'm just not used to spending over $100 for dual core processors anymore. My, what's a girl to do?*

*Line stolen from the movie Radio Days.

Edit of title

 

[taltamir]

is there a question in there somewhere?

 

[MarcVenice]

The E8400 is worth it in my book though, especially when overclocking. It's one of the best CPU's you can get from Intel for a decent price, it surely has been different in the past when they overcharged like mad.

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: taltamir
is there a question in there somewhere?

So what the heck is going on with AMD?

Meaning, I'm waiting for a new processor that's worth the money and performance-wize a justifiable upgrade from my current X2 3800+ OC'd to 2.5GHz. Should I wait on AMD or just forget about them until they finally get their heads out of their... sorry. If I can wait for the pendulum to swing again to AMD I will, but only so long.

 

[narreth]

IMO your x2 3800+ is fine until the phenom 9900 launches
(if you want to stick with AMD)
if you don't want to stick with AMD, get a Q6600 or (if you're on a budget) an E2160 and OC it to 3.2 Ghz

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

buy, spend your money

 

[aussiestilgar]

Wait for AMD's next big thing, buy Intel, or just keep your X2.

 

[bendixG15]

Dump the sentimentallity....Waiting gets you nothing.

Buy the best chip for the most money that you want to spend.

Hve a good one ....

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

If you don't want to spend more than $100 on a dual core proc, you're not going to get much, maybe an e2160, but I would spend the extra cash and get a Wolfdale processor, you'll thank yourself for it.

As for waiting for AMD, I know a lot of people are. I was, but they disappointed me by so quickly abandoning socket 939 in favor of AM2, which brought practically nothing to the table except for DDR2, and it's benefits are slight.

So I did go to DDR2 eventually, but I did it with a new P35 mobo and an e4400 CPU. A few weeks ago, I upgraded to the e8400 and a Geforce 8800GTS, and I'm thrilled.

Before my e4400, I had an Opteron 165 @ 2.8, and going to an e4400 @ 3GHz was a huge improvement.

I'd say give up on AMD for now, they promised a lot with the Phenom procs, and under delivered, hopefully they'll make some inroads next time around, but I've learned not to bet on the losing horse, and right now AMD is obviously the losing horse.

 

[djnsmith7]

Originally posted by: bupkus

Originally posted by: taltamir
is there a question in there somewhere?

So what the heck is going on with AMD?

Meaning, I'm waiting for a new processor that's worth the money and performance-wize a justifiable upgrade from my current X2 3800+ OC'd to 2.5GHz. Should I wait on AMD or just forget about them until they finally get their heads out of their... sorry. If I can wait for the pendulum to swing again to AMD I will, but only so long.

I was a very long time AMD fan as well...Making the switch over wasn't easy...But the benchmarks & overall performance, along with overclockability just have C2D written all over it, where there's no sign in sight of that for AMD...

The E8400 is an excellent chip...You can read review after review & benchmark after benchmark & that chip's at the top of its class in almost everything...This is the 1st chip I've ever overclocked & it was a piece of cake...Almost too easy...

Wait for what?...Unfortunately, there's nothing worth waiting for on AMD's end...It'll be a long wait if you decide to do it...Whatever they do come out with, either the E8400 or upcoming Quads will crush...Not worth the wait...

 

[Puffnstuff]

OP wave bye bye to amd and get yourself an intel rig and enjoy the benefits of a superior setup. I was using amd since the days of the 5x86 and my last one was an opty 175 but the c2d/c2q rocks and there ain't no denying it.

 

[aigomorla]

i bought a phenom because someone told me there more fun to overclock then a Kentsfield.

Well....

It wasnt. The stupid thing wouldnt hold stable, i ran into install errors while installing windows. Windows randomly crashed from time to time.

I had the phenom system for no more then 4 days. Then it went all back to frys.

Thank god frys takes back stuff without a return fee.

But in short, i gave AMD a chance. And it went bad.

 

[harpoon84]

Originally posted by: bupkus

Originally posted by: taltamir
is there a question in there somewhere?

So what the heck is going on with AMD?

Meaning, I'm waiting for a new processor that's worth the money and performance-wize a justifiable upgrade from my current X2 3800+ OC'd to 2.5GHz. Should I wait on AMD or just forget about them until they finally get their heads out of their... sorry. If I can wait for the pendulum to swing again to AMD I will, but only so long.

An E8400 @ 4GHz would double the performance of your current CPU. On the AMD side, the Phenoms could double your performance with heavily multithreaded software, but single threaded performance would be similar.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

But in short, i gave AMD a chance. And it went bad.

what parts did you get, and was it unstable at stock?

 

[Ricemarine]

Either way DDR2 was meant to have a short lifespan since DDR3 was supposedly right around the corner. I'm just waiting for when DDR3 becomes mainstream with SSD and Windows 7, which won't be for another few years.

My opteron 165 rig is still nice though, so I have no reason to upgrade yet.

 

[Ebichan]

I wouldn't waste your money unless you really love AMD and buying their products gives you personal satisfaction.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: DrMrLordX

Originally posted by: aigomorla

But in short, i gave AMD a chance. And it went bad.

what parts did you get, and was it unstable at stock?

very buggy. At stock, it was alright, but hell, i got the setup to overclock.

It was the 9500+ and a ASUS M2N32-SLI.


*sigh*

 

[DrMrLordX]

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you. Rumor has it my board may have a Phenom-optimized BIOS soon, so I might try a B3 in it if I'm feeling crazy.

 

[Killrose]

OP: I too thought AMD would finally deliver on Phenom and bought an AM2 board 4mo ago. I did not really care if AMD was on top clock for clock, just figured they would at least be competitive, you know, win some loose some when benchmarked.

All you really hear about AMD is value this, value that, low MHz/low power consumption CPUs, value segment, ect., ect. Absolutely nada words about the high end, also with the MHz deficeit climbing in Intels favor, it is going to take AMD a year at least before anything exciting happens for them IMHO.

Buy an Intel based system. Go cheap and OC one of their CPU's, it will still out perform an AMD system. And then support AMD on the GPU side of things maybe? But as for now, the real power boxes are Intel with 8800gtx's in them. Got coin?

 

[phexac]

Yeah there is very little reason to go with AMD right now. Regardless of what you do, you can pick up an Intel processor that will do it better than what AMD has to offer.

I was with AMD all the way when their X2s were spanking Pentium 4's and Pentium D's all over the place, but now the situation is reversed, so I got myself an E8400 and am very happy with it.

 

[heyheybooboo]

I can't believe in over 15 responses not a single person asked: "What do you do with your computer ???"

Originally posted by: bupkus
I like AMD processors to a large degree cause I liked the cheap motherboards with real good IGPs that you could find thrown in for peanuts.

Hands down the AMD 690g IGP is the finest on the market - and in the next month or so the AMD 780G should roll out with IGP dx10, pixel shader 3.0 and UVD.

X2 5400+ 2.8GHz AM2 65W $100

GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI $90
(seems to me the price has gone up $15 in the last month or so - but what do I know? I'm frugal and retarded )


Or feel free to spend $220-$280 on the Intel CPUs recommended herein if 2.8GHz (probably 3.3 OC on stock volts) isn't ""snappy"" enough for you ....

 

[jdkick]

Perhaps the OP should give some reasoning as to why the X2 3800+ even needs to be replaced. It's difficult to make a recommendation otherwise.

 

[hennethannun]

IF it is necessary for the OP (or anyone else) to replace their computer right now, and if their budget/computing needs are mid-range or above, then there is very little reason to go with AMD. Phenom has closed some of the performance gap for AMD, but only at the cost of the TLB errata (which is currently only addressed by the unacceptable bios fix). from about $150 up AMD just can't compete.

Personally, I had been hoping to sit on my X2 4200+ until nehalem/45nm phenom, but the failure of another old s939 system in my house will force me to buy a new system, and buying replacement parts for a 939 system seems rather wasteful right now. Overall, there doesn't seem to be any reason to buy a phenom right now: they are all irreparably bugged and AMD isn't saying when the new stepping is due out.

Wolfdale (which today means E8400) certainly seems like the sweet spot for the gaming/enthusiast/non-quad-core market. <$230 for a chip that should reach 3.6ghz on stock cooling and can go as high as 4.5ghz on air? AND is 5-10% faster clock for clock than conroe. the only thing not to like is that it's dual-core. but how many people actually need quad-core systems right now? there is definitely a small market share that does, but it's not a big share.


Of course, all of this is in the mid-high end. In the budget sector AMD has done the right thing (well, really the only thing they could do) and slashed prices very aggressively. an AM2 4200+ isn't all that great over all, but at $65 it does look fairly attractive next to Intel's equivalently priced E2180 (at least at stock speeds).

So for the OP, what are you going to be doing with your new PC? and what's your budget? and how badly do you need to upgrade right now?

 

[Nemesis 1]

Originally posted by: bupkus
I like AMD processors to a large degree cause I liked the cheap motherboards with real good IGPs that you could find thrown in for peanuts.

So what the heck is going on with AMD? I want to pass my current 939 X2 6150 computer on to someone else and upgrade to where I can use some of that DDR2 memory I bought just before the bottom fell out of the price. :frown:

I'm getting a little chubby over Wolfdale but man I'm just not used to spending over $100 for dual core processors anymore. My, what's a girl to do?*

*Line stolen from the movie Radio Days.

Edit of title

I am having alot of problems with your post . A lot! Do you build systems for others.

I see you say that you are running a 939 X2 6150. When did you buy this system ?

If its for gaming why do you need to upgrade? AMD works just fine. What socket did AMD drop that everyone got upset about?

Are you thinking of going to qcore? I just don't get it. You have a nice system that had to have been built after C2D was released. Because of the $100 price you put on X2 3800.

Before C2D X2 3800 was selling for outragious amount of money.

 

[v8envy]

I was in the exact same boat. My 2.4 ghz Venice 3200+ gave up the ghost. I had (have) a nice socket 939 Asus motherboard, 2 gigs of blinged out OCZ ram and a modern-ish PSU and GPU. But I couldn't find a replacement 939 cpu I would consider spending money on -- the only ones available now seem to be 3600x2 Manchesters or Opterons. The first is nowhere near enough oomph, the second are obscenely priced.

Even at the ultra low end a DS3L + 2180 CPU made more sense ($90 + $70). It's a few bucks more than an AMD CPU + quality board combo, but had zero problems hitting 3 ghz with 2 gigs of G.Skill 800 ram. Half the price of a X3210 system I bought a week later (still only at 2.8ghz, no time to play with it), yet amazingly fast.

I had looked at the AM2 Opterons, Phenoms and X2s. Getting an AM2 board now is a dead end (although I admit the $70 690G boards are very attractive for a bargain basment build), and quality AM2+ boards still have/had a hefty early adopter tax. X2 cpus can't hope to match even the Allendale core2 CPUs once the later are overclocked. And Phenom -- well, there's a reason the going out of business CompUSA near me has a bunch of Phenom 9500 boxes, and no other CPUs at all.

The only reason to get AMD now is if you need a basic web browsing desktop. Anything enthusiast related belongs to Intel ATM.