Going back to AMD

2fast4all

2fast4all

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Messages
115
Im thinking of going back to AMD someday when ever the new 6-8 core processors come out. Does anyone know how many years it will take to make it?

I do like my Q6600 (specs in my sig) but Ive always used AMD ever since I was a kid. My last system X2 4200+ was one of the best :).

What are your suggestions? Im not going to buy anytime soon but like to get an Idea.

Any Phenom II X4 BE with 780-785 chipset? I know there not i7 killers (dont kill me for saying that....:( ) It seems to game better (what my younger brother says.

Thanks
 
The new Thuban(6 core Phenom II) will be out soon, probably not too long after the new 800 chip set is released. AMD's new Bulldozer chip, which will be four nodes that show up as 8 cores inside Widndows, should be out sometime early next year is there are no more delays. But, we don't know anything about performance yet.

For gaming, AMD is a good choice because games are GPU limited, and Intel's faster chips don't show much real gain. The exception is when you use multiple GPUs. Intel's I7 does have a nice lead there. A Phenom II at 3Ghz or more will be faster than your current set-up, as Phenom II and Core 2 have very similar performance at the same speed. Add that to the fact that the AM3 socket still has life left into it, it's not a bad upgrade path.
 
The Thuban hopefully will be arriving just around the bend, meanwhile this should also include the inevitable price reduction on the current Phenom II X4s. From the documentation I have come across, the current AMD flagship offerings --965 and 955-- should best your venerable Q6600 setup by a decent margin, but ultimately as Sic pointed out, you are still generally GPU limited.

If AMD doesn't muck up their price/performance on the new Thuban chips, I would say YES, upgrade by all means.
 
What Drescherjm said;

You can pretty much change the FSB to 334 without touching the voltage and you'll get 3 GHz. Just be mindful of your memory multiplier.
 
BTW, If you get the Q6600 to 3.0GHz that is about as fast as a Phenom 2 955 at stock.
 
I agree with on just OCing the Q6600. You are not going to gain much if any speed by switching to AMD. If you need more speed i7 is the only game it town.
 
This is just a nostalgia thread, no real point, but we all need those some times.
 
I've been thinking of doing the same thing. Not really for any good reason though. If I could find someone who wants my setup, I'd sell it and build a cheaper AMD rig as long as the new chips work in the current boards.

It's not really about performance. It's about building a new computer. I've had this one for a while, and kind of want to build something else.
 
I believe that with the AMD 8 core CPUs coming next year, a new socket will be required, the current AM3 motherboards wouldn't be able to handle it.

I wonder if Intel releases 8 core CPUs next year, would my current 1366 motherboard be able to handle them?

I really like AMD for having keeping compatibility with their AM2 motherboards with the new AM3 processors. I wish Intel could do that. :(
 
I am not sure I would call them true 8 core. I mean there will be 4 modules each with 2 shared cores. This is kind of a step between real cores and HT cores because there are increased # of integer pipelines. However with that said this looks like a more efficient design than either real cores with no HT and real cores + HT.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll wait until the new chips come out.

Sorry for creating a "should I upgrade" thread for the millionth time.....I dont upgrade often, so im just curious.
 
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