AMD CPU's for high end system in Q4 2007?

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echn111

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 30, 2007
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I'm looking to significantly upgrade my entire system in Q4 2007 (Q1 2008 at the very latest).

My priority is a silent/low noise, powerful, high-end system. What this means is: I put a high premium on "efficient", cool running CPU's (i.e. E6700) and will sacrifice "a bit" of power to get it. But I am looking to upgrade to higher power levels, which means quad core (i.e. QX6850) otherwise this isn't going to be much of an upgrade. And, since this is a high end system, value/price is not an issue.

I'm not familiar with building AMD systems and really have not followed many of the AMD threads.

Should I consider AMD for my new system in Q4 2007 and if so, what will be available to me?
 
I would certainly consider AMD for your new build in the last quarter of this year, but whether you choose to go this route or not depends entirely on the performance of Phenom X4 (which debuts in that quarter).

At the moment, if you were looking to build a high end rig, I would say go with Core 2 Duo over anything in AMD's current lineup. However, because of the introduction of the new processor family from AMD in Q4, it would be wise to make the choice when you've read some articles and review comparing the two.
 
I second the above opinion.

At this very moment, Intel rules the high end. But when Q4 comes, it is up in the air.
 
Personally from what I'm seeing and hearing AMD isnt going to have anything compete with Intel in the high-end untill Q108 at the earliest.
 
DemonDiablo said:
Personally from what I'm seeing and hearing AMD isnt going to have anything compete with Intel in the high-end untill Q108 at the earliest.
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i dunno, AMD launches have always come with not very optimistic anticipation. its just the way amd is, the x4 will probably beat the c2q, but the fight is not with current core 2, but with the new penryn cores, where i have no idea who will be the winner
 
Exactly and the X4 is going to launch when the penryn launches. The penryn is going to launch at a little over 3ghz. The X4 is supposed to launch at around 2.6ish ghz. So unless AMD can get their 3ghz X4's out this year and somehow have a better IPC than the penryn's then its not looking very good.

However I think AMD will be able to win clock for clock at the low end and the mid range. They just dont have a heavy hitter for the high end is all.
 
DemonDiablo said:
Exactly and the X4 is going to launch when the penryn launches. The penryn is going to launch at a little over 3ghz. The X4 is supposed to launch at around 2.6ish ghz. So unless AMD can get their 3ghz X4's out this year and somehow have a better IPC than the penryn's then its not looking very good.

However I think AMD will be able to win clock for clock at the low end and the mid range. They just dont have a heavy hitter for the high end is all.
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As far as I'm aware, Penryn will only be available as an "Extreme Edition" part during 2007. Lets wait and see (that goes for the OP as well).
 
You probably shouldn't consider AMD, since your criteria is a high powered upgrade from an e6700 @3.6Ghz. Go for the QX6850, that should net you 3.6Ghz with ease, matching your current setup but with the obvious advantage of quad cores.

AMD's quad core offerings will almost certainly be more efficient than Intel's, but unless the AMD chips overclock like a banshee you won't see anywhere near the performance available from the QX6850 for quite awhile.
 
Not sure what you do with your PC, but "high end" imho is 4 F sockets in 1U. Should blow away pretty much anything esp when you can drop quad core in later.
 
So...
You have a P35 mobo, an e6700 running 3.6ghz on water,
Two 8800GTX's in SLI driving a 2407, and
Either a TB of storage or 500GB in Raid.


I think... you might (maybe) just might be able to hold out until... Q1 2008, but absolutely no longer than that.

But yeah, I can totally understand how what you have might not cut it.



p.s. I'm willing to pay the shipping to haul your old outdated system to me when you do upgrade. I'd really like to see first hand how you managed to survive with such a setup.


;)
 
Robstar said:
Not sure what you duo with your PC, but "high end" imho is 4 F sockets in 1U. Should blow away pretty much anything esp when you can drop quad core in later.
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^
I think that setup is more likely to have integrated graphics in it than dual 8800GTX's in SLI.
 
markintosh13 said:
^
I think that setup is more likely to have integrated graphics in it than dual 8800GTX's in SLI.
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Possibly. But I thought he was going more for computing power.

No reason you can't get an eatx setup of some sort, although I'm not sure how many quad sockets there are with sli support.
 
markintosh13 said:
So...
You have a P35 mobo, an e6700 running 3.6ghz on water,
Two 8800GTX's in SLI driving a 2407, and
Either a TB of storage or 500GB in Raid.


I think... you might (maybe) just might be able to hold out until... Q1 2008, but absolutely no longer than that.

But yeah, I can totally understand how what you have might not cut it.

p.s. I'm willing to pay the shipping to haul your old outdated system to me when you do upgrade. I'd really like to see first hand how you managed to survive with such a setup.

;)
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I think you misunderstand. My system is perfectly adequate for everyday work. But that is not why someone builds a high end system. And this is not the forum to explain why.

My only recent 'upgrade' has actually been a downgrade - got a cool running P35 and got rid of SLI as I found SLI to be far to inefficient for what I want. Anyway my question was directed at CPU power not GPU.
 
Thanks for the replies.

While my current kit may be appear to be fairly decent, in a few months both my CPU and GPU will be over a year old and it will be time for me to upgrade.

I will wait for news on the Phenom X4 and see how it compares to the Penryn. I'm fairly neutral about which brand I go for, and although I suspect I'm going Intel, I hope that AMD surprises me. If they come out a cool running low wattage CPU that compares favourably with Intel in terms of power, I may just go with that.
 
I'm hoping AMDs new proc generation will be able to compete clock for clock with the Core 2 Duo, steal some of its thunder. I'm tired of Core 2s thunder.

Anyways, the point I want to make is that if you place such a value on high efficiency, you need to put a premium on the PSU you buy. New (expensive) channel well built suckers are hitting as much as 85% efficiency (!!!).

Anyways, My next build is going to be 100% ATI and AMD, just because I've never done it. To H its always Core 2 since we know how/where to spend the money to turn a 1.86GHz C2D into one that will outperform its $1000 counterpart (see sig)

To the average consumer it really doesn't matter. My last two builds have been AX2 (or is there a better jargon?) simply because the X2s have remained competitive on the mainstream price bracket, for non-overclockers. Even after C2D I still think Intel's memory architecture is... questionable.

Anyways, wait and see!
 
echn111 said:
I think you misunderstand. My system is perfectly adequate for everyday work. But that is not why someone builds a high end system. And this is not the forum to explain why.

My only recent 'upgrade' has actually been a downgrade - got a cool running P35 and got rid of SLI as I found SLI to be far to inefficient for what I want. Anyway my question was directed at CPU power not GPU.
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Awwwwww, c'mon - explain why!

Render farm in a box?

8800GTX SLI not cutting it for what?

I'm seriously curious. Is there a real reason - even if it's just "it's cheaper than racing performance cars" or "I have to stay ahead of my neighbor"?
 
markintosh13 said:
Awwwwww, c'mon - explain why!

Render farm in a box?

8800GTX SLI not cutting it for what?

I'm seriously curious. Is there a real reason - even if it's just "it's cheaper than racing performance cars" or "I have to stay ahead of my neighbor"?
Click to expand...

The sarcastic way you ask questions is typical troll. But in the slim chance you're just actually on the level, albeit just a bit slow and simply naturally derisive, here goes.

I'm here on the [H] forums and asking for advice on upgrading my system because this is my hobby and a good distraction from my career. What are you here for?
 
Not trolling.

I actually thought you were trolling the AMD forum with your high end C2D rig and rubbing the salt into the wounds of the fanbois.

And I still don't know why you'd need more firepower in the next few months.
 
LoL. I think I've explained why I "don't" need more firepower in the next few months, but why I'm going to try to find it anyway.

As for AMD, my motivation is a bit like MrWizard6600's. I want to build an AMD system because I've never done it before.

As long as AMD offers something competitive that has "some" advantage over an Intel CPU (hoping for high efficiency) and can still be regarded as a high end system, I'd like to give it a try. (and if nothing interesting happens in this area, I might just have to consider a different hobby)
 
echn111 said:
LoL. I think I've explained why I "don't" need more firepower in the next few months, but why I'm going to try to find it anyway.

As for AMD, my motivation is a bit like MrWizard6600's. I want to build an AMD system because I've never done it before.

As long as AMD offers something competitive that has "some" advantage over an Intel CPU (hoping for high efficiency) and can still be regarded as a high end system, I'd like to give it a try. (and if nothing interesting happens in this area, I might just have to consider a different hobby)
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My entire path is doing to be determined by:
motherboard features I'll actually use
competitive processor performance
pricing

I for one don't give a rats ass if it doesnt do aquamark, or 3dmark or some other stupid thing I won't use QUITE as well as its competition. I'm looking forward to a quad with 4gig or more of ram. I do a lot of video, and am greatly looking forward to more hd video. I can't imagine amd delivering something so seriously non-competitive at stock that I will be forced to abandon them, but we shall see.

Once you stop giving a damn about playing games your priorities change and the field opens up a bit.
 
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