Intel regains gaming crown (1 Viewer)

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I've been pretty excited over Intel's new Core platform for notebooks, but this desktop wonder has certainly made me crack an e-chubby. Intel's new 'Conroe' chip, hands-down, beats an overclocked AMD64 @ 2.8GHz. Although these benchmarks were set up by Intel and results are still preliminary, AT was there and they seemed to have asserted that the benchies are legit. At the moment I remain cautiously optimistic, but for people like myself who have been an AMD loyalist (for desktops) for years, this should make us reconsider.

Empire Strikes Back.

http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2713&p=2

 

[Collin]

Atomic? Do you work for them or something?

Btw, heat isn't a huge issue with Core, polidick. Plus, Intel wouldn't bother releasing a fully functional competitive chip if it's heat generation made it's distribution unfeasible. If you read the article, you would be amazed.

 

[Templar]

We need to be cautious of the results and wait for a comparison with AM2, but all signs are indicating that Intel is back at the game again, which could only be good for the consumers ie us.

Let us hope that this thread does not turn out to be the fanboy sledging that has evolved in many tech forums over the announcement of Conroe.

 

[Collin]

Yup, AM2 is where the situation is expected to reach closer to parity.

I actually don't think there are many fanboys here in BOS IT. Plus MedNez will sling his mod sword should that happen.

 

[AsyLum]

I just want to know how much

 

[STx]

Yeh this is interesting, and we shall see when AM2 is out with DDR2 for amd. Hehe, this might change my next system, as i was quite sure on amd.

 

[Collin]

I just want to know how much

Me too. If it's competitively priced against the FX-60 (which is what, AU$1,300-$1,600?), then Intel may be heading towards something good.

 

[AsyLum]

Me too. If it's competitively priced against the FX-60 (which is what, AU$1,300-$1,600?), then Intel may be heading towards something good.

The problem is that can we really expect Intel to match that? Or aim for a higher end*, with the data that 'it outperforms its rivals' like it always has?

* euphemism for 'rip us off again?'

 

[Templar]

Me too. If it's competitively priced against the FX-60 (which is what, AU$1,300-$1,600?), then Intel may be heading towards something good.

I believe the Conroe on test is the fastest mainstream model, they are planning a 3.33GHz extreme edition or close to it. So expect pricing to be competitive.

As for heat problems, the 65nm Conroe is manufactured in the same facility as Cedar Mill/Presler, but it is a vastly different architecture. The 2.66GHz Conroe has a TDP of 65W, certainly comparable to whatever AMD has now.

Even if it does reach 100W, as long as the performance leap is there to justify it heat won't be a problem (X1800XT pumps out 100W+ of heat, yet nobody has said anything).

From the benchmarks I've seen on AM2 with DDR2 667, there isn't any significant change in performance over DDR400, a few fps faster in FEAR, and in some cases even worse performance in encoding. I'm not sure how much of a boost DDR2 800 will bring exactly, but I think it would be more of a modest upgrade rather than revolutionary performance.

Of course, these information all come from just Intel atm, so we should still wait for third party verification.

 

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Templar: Yeah, I heard about the planned EE Conroe... WOW, seriously.

Politik: I think you're vastly overestimating any potential heat problems associated with Conroe. Pentium 4's and the new Core range are considerably different in architecture; infact, it's closer to Pentium M than Pentium 4. Plus, like Templar mentioned, a top-notch performance will often justify over any potential heat issues.

 

[Minai]

wow, that was unexpected

Yeah, I'd be most interested in the price - I'd consider it if it was on par with similar AMD chips.

Why didn't they compare it to an FX-60? instead of the X2

I guess another point is its clockability etc, as Athlon chips are apparently more "overclocking friendly"

 

[Templar]

Why didn't they compare it to an FX-60? instead of the X2

I guess another point is its clockability etc, as Athlon chips are apparently more "overclocking friendly"

Why not? If it can beat the flagship FX60, why compare it with the X2, even 4800+?

I'm not sure what you mean overclocking friendly. If it means the ease of overclocking, then Intel is better, just lift the FSB as opposed to messing with HT and multiplier in AMDs. If you mean % overclocked, that depends vastly on size of transistors and stepping.

 

[seremify007]

I don't know much about CPUs and so on... but my mates all say that dual core CPUs are great for multitasking- so I'm naturally quite excited about the prospect of getting one of those new laptops with Dual Core (Dell has them for sale <$1800).

 

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Minai: No idea why, it should of said FX-60 on the graphs (they explicitly state an FX-60 was used during the setup on page 1). Best I can come up with is that the FX they used was a highly 'modified' X2, since the main differences between the FX-60 and the X2 4800+ is the clock speed, cache etc., with both still being dual-core.

seremify007: Dell's offering the Inspiron 6400 with Duo and it's pretty awesome for the price.

 

[Templar]

The biggest difference is actually that FX comes with an unlocked multiplier. Not that lifting the multiplier is the best way to overclock an AMD.

The only thing missing for me in the 6400 is a decent GPU. However, Microsoft still has that USB bug going on with significant effect on Core battery life (Sonoma as well, less so).

 

[Collin]

Unlocked multiplier.. that's a freakin' hazard!

The 6400 is targeted towards more business/student users, just like the 6000 which is why they rarely ever offer any good GPUs. This is why the 6000 was perfect for me.. (and I've still got the desktop for gaming instead). For gamers, they offer the 9400 (which now boasts a 7800GTX Go config), and of course, the Alienware-fighting XPS. Although I should mention some tech-savvy dude off a forum did once mod a 7800GTX into a 6000 -- that was interesting, to say the least. Speaking of Alienware, there's been rumours seeping around of a possible business acquisition.

Plus what's this bug you mentioned? Heh heh heh.

 

[Templar]

Unlocked multipliers are useful for overclocking Intel chips. Increasing the multiplier in AMDs is just overclocking for dummies. Overclocking HT produces better performance for the same processor speed.

Virtualisation is just around the corner.

With PCIe, it is now possible to change the GPU in some cases. Although since the 6000 uses ATi, you need some serious modding to get a nVidia GPU in there. Otherwise if the laptop uses MxM you should be able to change the GPU to a 7800GTX...unless they soldered it on, then just some modding...

Windows XP (I believe problem exists with MCE as well) has a driver bug such that when something is plugged in the USB, will result in extra battery drain even if the device is not used. This happens with Sonoma, but not significantly unlike on Core. So don't use the USB ports unless you need it at that time, or disable the USB hardware while not using it.

 

[bizadfar]

AMD unlocked multiplier is not stupid. It's good to fight the coldbug, which determines how high yyour HTT can go. Let's sayy your max htt(only in the cold like -20 to -40, depends) is only like 260, just enough to run some good ram at 2-2-2-5 1:1. With an X2, your stuck at whatever is factory default. With an FX it's useful.

Also FX have better memory controllers.

BUT, Conroe/Merom will be awesome(easy 20sec Pi 1M, and competitive Pi 32M unlike Dothan). lets hope they dont absolutely spank AMD, because thats just bad for the consumer.