Zardon

Read The Review Here
_____________________

Nearly two months ago AMD launched the Phenom 2 with the main benefit over the original Phenom being enhanced performance on the higher end model. That was not the only improvement though as technology such as cool n quiet was improved and as a result the launch was quite successful, even if the processors were priced a little high. At that point the one thing which was missing from the AMD line-up was support for DDR3 which Intel have been providing for quite some time, today we look at the first couple of CPUs which resolve that issue.

Alex

Would anyone buy one of these over a similarly priced Intel CPU? im really, honestly curious?

procupine14

I would have if they had shown better results. I'm just more comfortable on the AMD platform and honestly like the challenge of OCing more *shrug its my thing. But its nice to know that my system that I just got done upgrading is still fine and that I made the right decision by not waiting for AM3.

__________________
Laptop: HP dv6000 - Windows 7 Pro 64bit - AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60(2.0GHz) - NVIDIA GeForce Go 7200 256MB - 4GB Kingston DDR2 667 (2x2GB) - 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

HTPC: Vista Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Athlon 5200+ x2 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 250GB Seagate Barracuda - Samsung EcoGreen 1TB - Hauppauge single tuner HD - ASUS Radeon HD4550 512MB - ECS RS485M-M mobo - Creative X-fi soundcard - Seasonic 300W SFX PSU

Other PC: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon 4200+ X2 - 1x 2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 - 250GB Seagate Barracuda - HIS 4850 512MB - DFI Infinity NF570 SLI-M2/G - CoolerMaster 400W PSU

IvanV

Well, AMD has been honest and when they first launched Phenom 2 they said that they didn't expect any significant performance boost from switching to DDR3 (see the AMD supplied chart here). It's still underwhelming though.

__________________
Feed the porkers and don't touch the buttons!

Judas

if amd could take a step back.. and do something just as revolutionary..... they could provide a technology that would easily take the cake... and then devour it without waiting.


What i'm surprised about is that fact that with the current technology, that the conceptional designs of making single slot dual channel configurations a reality with that, the possibility of quad channel memory... specially DDR3 and DDR4 (or whichever comes next) as a working solution.

from my understanding, the pin configuration of current DDR3 would require slight revising to allow the system to read each end as an independant "stick" so to speak, the concept is similare to that of a dual core cpu, only it's like a dual channel ram module.

Top that off with AMD getting thier Native quad core cpu's properly up to speed, and they could easily trounce the i7 platform.

__________________

procupine14

agreed see the interesting thing I've been seeing surface since the Phenom II release is the guys doing massive oc's are getting some scorching results in performance out of these chips. I guess it then goes without my saying that if AMD puts some more effort into making these faster chips they may very well follow the OCing trend. (without the massive heat and tears when they break

__________________
Laptop: HP dv6000 - Windows 7 Pro 64bit - AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60(2.0GHz) - NVIDIA GeForce Go 7200 256MB - 4GB Kingston DDR2 667 (2x2GB) - 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

HTPC: Vista Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Athlon 5200+ x2 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 250GB Seagate Barracuda - Samsung EcoGreen 1TB - Hauppauge single tuner HD - ASUS Radeon HD4550 512MB - ECS RS485M-M mobo - Creative X-fi soundcard - Seasonic 300W SFX PSU

Other PC: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon 4200+ X2 - 1x 2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 - 250GB Seagate Barracuda - HIS 4850 512MB - DFI Infinity NF570 SLI-M2/G - CoolerMaster 400W PSU

mkk

I still don't quite get why people would want to go with DDR3 in the first place. I'd certainly consider the Phenom 2's if I were building a new system today, even with overclocking in the picture. A year ago I didn't hesitate to go with one of Intels 45nm Core 2 Dous but today AMD can at least offer something compelling in the mid range market.

__________________
Boycott for peace

Judas

after using both a phenom 2 and intel Core I7, imo, i find the Intel solution for the best bang for the buck.... is the winner... .but that's just me.. i mean the 920 is just insanely powerful with a triple channel solution.

__________________

Mac Daddy

Great review Stu

I am a little disappointed as well to be honest. AMD for me back in the day was the best bang for the buck and Intel had a hard time keeping up.

I agree with Judas they should take step back and do something revolutionary they certainly have the potential to do so. The other factor to consider here though is AMD is in bad shape so maybe the thinking is lets get the new stuff out and hope? *shrugs*

__________________
"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

mkk

Except there is no Phenom 2 in the price range of a Core i7, and the Core i7 requires DDR3 as well as an expensive motherboard.

__________________
Boycott for peace

Cow_160483

i wouldn't mind moving up to a Phenom II this being the main reason

__________________

Decode!
Muhahahahah!

Jejking

Overclocking page:

MaxOC GPU => MaxOC CPU

__________________
Strike back with Team MAD against disease, it's worth the try

Mac Daddy

Very true but DDR3 is really coming down and sure the X58 boards will come down as well. I am going to pick up another 2G of this OCZ RAM I think at this price I can always use it for an i7 build or whatever ... I have had it running 1453Mhz @ 1.7V (EVP 1.9V).
Canada Computers - Memory > Desktop Memory > DDR3 1333 PC3-10666+ : OCZ (OCZ3G13332GK) Gold DDR3 2X1GB DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-26 Dual Channel Memory Kit .

(A bit off topic I guess but just wanted to show how DDR3 is dropping in price)

__________________
"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen