The New AMD Building Thread

I think most of has to do with what your particular needs are. Like you, would worry more about games than application performance for something you don't use often. Did you note the marked decrease in the wattage? Now if you used that App day in and day out and time was at a premium it would be different. I would like to see those results using XP-Pro SP3, or maybe the Win 7 Beta! People all over the world have made it plain that they don't like Vista. That's why we will have Win 7! I bet the results would be much different! I don't even know why they bother including Core i7 to begin with. Unless Intel can greatly reduce the price for both the CPU and all the electronic trickery needed in the MB to make i7 fast, it's a moot point, price wise to begin with. At least the steps forward AMD has been taking the last 8 months have been positive ones! I do wish they had included overclock benches as well as the stock. Looks like I was right about the 7750 BE being a Phenom 4 with two less cores and B3 stepping. I think they call it an Athlon x2 rather than a phenom x2, to give the Athlon x2 name a presence in the AM2+ and AM3 platforms.

Russ

 

Well folks, as promised, the new Phenom IIs are available from Newegg! I know it's unbelievable that AMD has actually brought a new CPU series out on time, but here they are! That must be a first! LOL!!

940 $275
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471
920 $235
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103472

Now we can finally see what they can do! Yea!!! I'm in no rush, I'll wait for the 95w ones!

Russ

 

Sorry, there's a few things in that post I don't understand/agree with.
First, the Decrease in wattage. Well it's there to an extent, in that the 7750 uses less than the older Quad cores, but it still uses more power than the 45nm Q9300, let alone the 8200, which isn't all that uch to buy either, crossing over into the range of the Phenoms. The X2 5050e's result is surprising though, using far more power than the E7200, which has a higher TDP. The E5000 series use even less power still, by a noticeable margin too.
Secondly, what difference does it make if they use Vista exactly? Firstly, in actual performance-dependent applications, Vista doesn't slow the system down much provided it's configured properly. Secondly, if one CPU is slowed down, they all will be. It's not as if the AMDs were tested with Vista and the Intels with XP.
Third, the inclusion of the i7s. This offends you? It's of no direct comparison to anything from AMD, but that's really the point - look at what desktop CPUs can achieve. The i7 920 itself isn't even that expensive. Gigabyte have released a mainstream UD3R board for the X58 chipset now which places a 6GB RAM setup with the CPU and Motherboard at $675. Twice as much as the cheapest Quad core setups, but twice as fast. Tech enthusiasts have had far worse deals than that in the past - especially with high end graphics cards, you literally used to have to pay twice as much to get 30% more performance, and people paid that.
I'm somewhat disappointed with the initial prices of the Phenom IIs as well, I know they'll drop but wow, the 940 costs more than a Q9400!

 

Firstly, like it or not XP is mainstream. There are many times the amount of XP users than there are Vista users, so why use it to compare. You said it yourself a while back "I guess the poeple really have spoken"! I never even hinted that anyone was using XP. I understand what you mean, but all things are equal here.

Second, you are only talking about a difference of 8 watts under load and 2 watts less than the Q6600 at idle! Power consumption is going to be a major factor too! As the process and yields for the Phenom x4 get better, I'm sure that the AM2+ chips will lose or better use a lot of the transistor count of the 4 core Phenom x4, and become it's own more efficient chip! Hey, it's a step in the right direction, something AMD has been accomplishing with regularity over the last 8 months, as all their steps forward have been positive ones! A far cry from AMD's past history!

Third, the i7s can perform all they want, but the economy here in the States is so bad, no one will be able to afford them, so it's a moot point. It's a bit like how I used to say, "How fast is fast"? You and I both know that just because you double the speed in MIPS, it doesn't mean that it makes them twice as fast at performing work. The Phenom II is meant to compete with the Yorkfields, and I'm sure they will. The prices are subject to change just like everything else. The coming 95w Chips will be the HKMG transistor ones and that will shuffle everything. I know you don't agree, but they will scale better and overclock better by about 20%. This isn't rocket science it's math, electronics and Ohm's law. Some things in electronics are cast in stone, and the principals always apply. I'm not sure when they are coming, but it will be before mid year. When I ask the people I know, all I get is smiles! LOL!! Considering that these people have Millions of dollars at stake here, they are remarkably happy people! No matter what, it's still another step in the right direction for AMD.

Russ

 

Some more goodies. Review of the New Phenom II CPUs!

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3492

One step forward at a time!

Russ

 

Oh!! Who gives a crap about reading some more stuff?? Russ just buy the DAMN thing since it's better than sliced bread and let us know how it works so I can plan my new build a year from now... ROFL.

....gm

Humor from me.. NAH!!!

 

Tryin to piss me off huh! (-:

Seriously, I would but something happened to change everything. The Lady that's buying my computer called me and told me that I would have to wait till the end of the month because she had to pay for her Interferon treatments for chronic arthritis. As of Wednesday they no longer accept Medicaid! She told me if I sold it, it would be OK! Bummer!

Now go suck an Egg! LOL!!
JRS

 

Russ I'm truly sorry that your deal is put on hold. It'll come thru.

....gm

 

Thanks GM! She's a nice lady and if she can't buy it she will find someone who will. A good person! I was just all revved up and ready to build!

Russ

 

Another review from The Guru of 3D

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-phenom-ii-x4-920-and-940-review-test/1

22 pages worth. This is a lot more realistic than some other reviews I saw! Not only am I telling you, but the Article tells you to buy this MB! I've been waiting for someone to use this board for benchmarks. $138 and well worth it! They managed 3.8GHz with it on air!

Russ

 

The problem with most of the results for the 4850e are that they aren't compared with anything, they just give the scores it achieved, and nothing for any other CPU, and since test environments vary, the benchmarks are all useless. What I did notice though, in the Sandra raw arithmetic calculations, which is where video encoding and file compression should work well, the 4850e was miles behind the E6600, which is a slower CPU than the E5200. By miles away I mean the E6600 had a 35% gain in MIPS. In MFLOPs, the two CPUs perform about the same, but as I stated before, the E5200 is still a faster processor, so to say it doesn't even compare to it?

 

I'm glad I decided on the 7750 BE then. The big problem with a lot of tests for AMDs is the motherboard. nVidia chipsets don't work that well with them compared to the 780G. It will improve the 4850e's performance about 15% to 20% over AM2, and who knows what the difference is between it and the nVidia. I don't remember anymore but there was a pretty good gap in overall performance! In AMD's shoot out challenge, nVidia came there to win, and were not pleased at all! The on-board Intel graphics are not up to snuff and finished dead last. The nVidia, finished second, but it was a distant second, overall. I know they were unhappy as their big guys were quoted as saying they didn't come for second place and were disappointed! I posted this a while back!

Russ

 

What's new? lmao!

 

just work that out russ

 

My thanks to "ck5134" for this Overclocking information!
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/processors/AMD_Phenom_II_X4_940_920_15.html

Enjoy,
Russ

 

So only 4.0Ghz stable on Phase, at best. Somewhat different from the 4.5 on water eh? :S

 

It's a decent chip but for an overclocker not the best bank for the buck. Its problem is that it might be attractive for someone who likes to tinker to play with but for a novice enthusiast it isn't going to offer much that couldn't easily be beaten for a little more. I'm cheering for AMD but chasing Intel's tale isn't going to win them a lot of fans. If AMD doesn't pull it together soon we're all going to be screwed because Intel will be alone in a private market, and AMD will be a memory.

 

Only time will tell! I'll still stick my neck out and say 4.5GHz on water! Right now How much of an overclock you get depends on what MB you use! As you can see by the Extreme Overclocking article, they've gotten as high as 4.3GHz with air cooling, with an over volt from stock maximum 1.50v of only .025v. I'm betting right now that this will improve as everyone learns the in's and out's of the chipset, and future bios flashes! They may even eventually reach 4.5GHz on air!

Russ

 

I found a good article comparing core i7 and phenom 2 overclocked. It compares price, performance and power consumption.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-phenom-ii,2119.html

 

krj15489,
compare those results and the same tests using the DS4H, and not only are the results much better, it even beats the Q920 at some tests, and wrecks havoc with the Yorkfields in a lot of things. This is strictly why more and more test sites say the DS4H is a must have for a phenom II at the present time! The DS4H is the only MB that has run 3.8GHz on air. Everyone else is struggling to get to 3.3 to 3.4GHz. Compare the voltage difference and you'll see right away that the competition hasn't figured it out yet. The DS4H hits a high of 4.3GHz and boots up using only .025v over the maximum of 1.5v, or 1.525v. It took the Asus M3A78-T, 1.625v to deliver 3.7GHz! Same chipset, different motherboard! So far the Phenom II performs far worse on an Evga, Asus, MSI or Biostar motherboard than it does on the DS4H! The power is there! You just need the right MB to deliver it! Somehow, GigaByte has found the answer, and I'm pretty sure they're not telling! LOL!!

Russ