 |
|
|
|
 |
Derivative
Bipolar Bear
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: Dublin
|
|
|
Heres a few things to think about.
AMD now has all of its processors on socket AM2 boards. On AM2 you can get the 90nm Athlons and Athlon X2 (single and dual cores) or the 65nm Phenom (tri and quad cores).
When I mention numbers like 90nm and 65nm these are die sizes. Die shrinks usually mean cheaper manufacturing costs, lower power consumption and less heat produced (which in turn means you can often [though not always] clock them higher).
Intel has all of its processors on socket LGA 775 boards. All of them are based on a 65nm process and these are the Core 2 Duo (dual cores) and the Core 2 Quad (quad cores). Intel has started making processors on a smaller die (45nm) so we'll see how that pans out shortly.
The Athlon X2 was originally in direct competition with Intel's Pentium 4 and Pentium D (aka netburst). The Pentium 4 was hot and drew alot of power. It didn't scale well and was generally considered a technological dead end. The Athlon on the other hand drew less power, produced less heat and scaled very well. The Athlons at this point were hands down better processors than the Pentiums. It wasn't even in debate.
Intel rectified the problems with Pentium IV in its successor, Core 2 Duo. The Core 2s produce way less heat than the Athlons and drew very little power. They were noted on launch to have amazing scalability as evidenced by people who managed to overclock their E6600 by about 600 to 800mhz on stock cooling. The Athlon X2 is no competition for the Core 2 Duo at equivilant clock speed.
Intel then released the Core 2 Quad which is essentially the same as the Core 2 Duo but with another 2 cores. Up until recently, AMD did not have anything in direct competition.
Now, AMD has Phenom which is generally regarded as a step up if you own an X2 on AM2 board. But the Phenom quads are generally regarded as being inferior to Intel's C2Q. The Phenoms amongst other things produce more heat and draw more power and AMD has had problems getting them to hit clock speeds that their older X2s can hit which is troubling because this should not be the case.
Both Intel and AMD are working on 45nm processors but Intel will come to market with a model sooner than AMD will.
AMD's 90nm processors have held up remarkably well and they have been ramping up the clock speeds steadily for years. There is a general consensus that AMD has not fully gotten to grips with the 65nm process (see Tech Report's article on Phenom). Intel have really got 65nm in the bag.
At this point if you are in the market to buy a new PC the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quads are the ones to shoot for.
If you are on a budget the Athlon X2s are still great for the cash. Phenom is a worthwhile upgrade if you are on AM2 and don't want to buy a whole new motherboard but the C2Qs are just better at this point.
I have a socket 939 Athlon X2 and it has served me well for a number of years now. I have no plans to upgrade until this PC dies completely.
|
|
 Dec-30-2007 22:07 
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 17:47.
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contact Us - return to tranceaddict
Powered by: Trance Music & vBulletin Forums
Copyright ©2000-2026, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Privacy Statement / DMCA
|
