I think September is FINALLY the month these processors will be releasing. I'm going to start buying my other components that way when the processors do drop I'll just drop it in my system. Granted I'm not buying other mechanical parts until I get this chip damn it. Gotta test everything you know.
That's actually what I was saying ... or trying to say, at the very least. Plus that it's statistically improbable that Intel users are any exception to the rule, though.
Hrm, so if they're going to be that fast wouldn't that cause a higher rate of cache stall? Or do they have hyper threading (yes I know its called something else on AMD chips, I just forget now) that good?
They have no hyper-threading. Intel uses 4 cores with 2 threads per core, AMD gives 8 full cores. However, each set of cores is set up as a module. SO it is kinda like hyper-threading, but done very differently and implemented MUCH better (it is called cluster multi-threading). Each set of cores is fed from a single scheduler and from what I remember they share a 256-bit floating point unit (that can be broken into two 128-bit FP units if necessary), they both have their own integer units though. I cant really explain how it all works really well myself since I dont fully understand all of it, but from what the guys at AMD tell me you can get higher throughput and efficiency by sharing some of the resources between cores like that. EDIT: here is some stuff explaining why multiple cores were chosen over hyper-threading. This is from a pretty well known guy named John over in AMD. Marketing area I think. EDIT again: Here is a picture of how BD works:
I had to stop reading the quoted part because my knowledge of throughput vs speed is limited and he said to stop if I don't understand that.
Should I continue to wait for these chips or should I just build a computer with a Phenom. My patience is gone and I really want to build but I've been waiting for these chips since March and they're still not where to be found. What should I do?
You can always build with a AM3+ board and get the BD CPU later. Some sites are saying Sept. 18th. AMD won't be announcing anything until day of most likely though. They got burned before announcing release day and price early. A phenom II x4 955 will run any game for the near future anyway may as well wait until the inevitable price war happens if bulldozer is competition for Intel's stuff.
fixed. Launch (at least a soft launch?) is less than a month away. No sense buying now at all. The lid has been kept on very tight with these and I haven't looked into concrete info in the past month since Ive been busy, but ill check into it tomorrow, see what stuff John (guy from AMD) has said about launch
Alright so Im still looking, but I am thinking these Bulldozer chips will be available for retail in the first week of October. Also a BD engineering sample chip (latest revision) was overclocked to: "Zambezi - 4.8ghz 1.47volts, Noctua NH-D14 3-fan push-pull/push-pull config." "Its litlebit cooler than 1090T OC'd to 4.1Ghz with 1.47volts" Additionally (dont know if this is necessarily true or not since the guy wont show actual proof he has the chip in his possession): "Zambezi performance beating SB 2600K as well as i7 990x with ease" From all the info I have found, it appears that the new bulldozer chip will be right around the performance of Intel's 2600k with both running at stock. Both designs overclock well, although BD is designed to run at much higher clock speeds more easily so proper cooling and BD can probably clock higher. My speculation is that with another revision after this, BD will be able to hit somewhere past 7.5GHz under LN2 cooling. Possibly even 8GHz. I think this because current chips from AMD hold a record of a little over 7GHz, and that architecture isnt even designed specifically to achieve very high clock speeds, imagine what could be done with an architecture that is designed for that? (like Bulldozer)
If you've waited this long, continue to wait. These things will be on shelves soon. It will be worth the wait, considering it sounds like you need to upgrade, not want. You got roughly 2 months (hopefully not more) until this drops. Hang in there.
Ok so this isnt exactly the same, this is from AMD's new server processors but it is the same architecture. It is an AMD engineering sample processor that someone has, very likely to be an "Interlagos" core. Either that or is it two "Istanbul" cores blued together onto a single chip and then hae two of them in the MB. It is two 12 core processors, so 24 threads. Ranked higher than two Intel processors of the latest generation server stuff that also has 24 threads. Look at the core speed differences between them and the scores the processors get. This is for a cryptography benchmark (encoding and decoding)
But what if Battlefield 3 releases and I'm still sitting here waiting? I definitely do NEED an upgrade. Needed one for a very long time. Problem is I can't buy shit so I guess I better start saving. I wanted to get a few pieces here and there but since I don't know what kind of mobos these chips will run on I can't even do that. Guess I could pick up my mouse and new keyboard and case for now but I wanted some innards.
AM3+ 900 series Here is a video with ASUS's line up of AM3+ MBs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7YSsEFqTk
Zambezi cores also work on AM3+ 800 series, but probably with a little bit limited overclocking ability and higher idle power. For best OC potential, most features, and best multi-GPU ability you will want a 990FX motherboard AM3+ is due to be phased out at the end of 2012 and the platform will be combined with the FM platform. Both FM1 and AM3+ will be phased out into a standard FM2 desktop platform. Socket G34 for the server end will be phased out at the end of 2012 or sometime in 2013 Same with the lower end server socket C32 Intel's new 1155 socket is also due to be phased out at the end of 2012. Intel's socket 1366 is being phased out in a couple months.
Meh, doubt the source is legit, but figured I'd post it anyway. http://hothardware.com/News/Uncertainties-Abound-Intel-AMD-May-Both-Delay-NextGeneration-CPUs/ Found it off the eVGA boards.
Its possible Sogestsu. No one seems to know anymore when BD will launch I need to find out when Chew* is actually done working. He has confirmed to me that he does in fact have working Bulldozer chips of the latest silicon revision. I tried to buy it off him once the NDA was going to be up but got turned down. Chew* said just a few days ago (on Sept 1st) that: "The final conclusion of this journey coming to a theatre near you soon." So the launch should be sometime in the next month or two at the latest Id think. I really hope its still September. But I suppose only people under NDA know for sure.
Price war and attempts at marketplace confusion starting early? Intel takes $10 off a few older Sandybridge cpu and adds a few more SKU. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-sandy-bridge-price-cuts,13355.html
Why the huge prices on all these low power parts for mobile? Dang. So freakin expensive. The i7 2760QM looks like the best deal out of them all, but still...