athlon 64

[halem111]

this new processor from amd is well anticipated, but why is there such hype over it whats special about it and when will it b comin out

 

[sabbath1]

What's special about it? It's the first processor coming out that's capable of processing both 32 and 64-bit data.
If it's gonna be a hit remains to be seen though. I'm quite skeptical myself.

It should be out in September if everything goes right.


My system: AMD Athlon XP 3000+ / TwinMOS 1Gb DDR400 / Soltek 75FRN-RL /
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro / Antec True Power 550W / Western Digital Raptor / Hercules GTXP SC /
Samsung DVD / Lite-On CDRW

 

[spud]

It should be out in September if everything goes right

LoL its AMD we are talking about here.

-Jeremy

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=5341387" target="_new">Busting Sh@t Up!!!</A>
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?pcm=1060900" target="_new">Busting More Sh@t Up!!!</A>

 

[Bosse]

So? Ever heard of Blizzard ???

 

[addiarmadar]

It will be a hit but nothing to write home about. Even if you have the 64 bit OS, the apps and games do not work that way right now. It wouldnt be a good solution till the next couple years or so.

 

[mr_gobbledegook]

Whats special about it ??

Well....apart from it being 64bit capable, which I reckon isn't going to be much benefit to me (unless Microsoft release a AMD64 version of Windows XP Home).

I think the biggest change will be the more to do with the platform the CPU runs upon. Instead of the bottlenecked FSB AMD will be utilising HyperTransport which should speed up performance in bandwidth hungry apps i.e games, content creation and databases.

This architecture is much more streamlined. Memory intensive apps should recieve a significant boost especially with the integrated memory controller which will support DDR400.

So basically my prediction is Athlon64 will be one mother of a gaming machine !! I will be looking forward to the performance of the NForce3 m/b as I am hopeing many of its features will be brought down to the Athlon64 m/b solution.

looking atintial Opteron benchmarks it looks likes performance scales pretty well. When AMD eventually sort out clockspeed issues an Athlon64 running > 2.2Ghz should scream along !

<font color=purple>Ladies and Gentlemen, its...Hammer Time !</font color=purple>

 

[ad_rach]

the integrated memory controller which will support DDR400

I thought it only supported <A HREF="http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_4699_7980^7983,00.html" target="_new">DDR333</A> (at least officially anyway)?Apparently you can run opterons with DDR400 though so i'm not sure.I read that some chipsets may be made to bypass the onchip memory controller, at least if and when DDRII becomes ubiquitous.

no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]

 

[skligmund]

"no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]"

Oh, I disagree. You CAN polish a turd, but it is still a turd.

I too once had money, then I got into computers...
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6607283" target="_new"> 3DMark </A>
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=24383" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

 

[ad_rach]

ok.maybe so.but it is unlikely to get visibly shinier.there is an implied 'successfully' in my sig, so attempted polishing doesn't count.

no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]

 

[mr_gobbledegook]

if you take a look at this old review of an engineering sample of the A64 it clearly states the Athlon64 supports DDR400.

<i><A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/athlon64_3.html" target="_new">"The CPU we tested was built with the B0 core revision. It is a much newer core than those used in the very first samples working at 800MHz and 1.2GHz core frequency. AMD redesigned this core to increase the clock frequencies and improved the embedded memory controller a little bit. As a result, our processor supported not only DDR266/DDR333 SDRAM, but also <b>DDR400 SDRAM</b>."</A></i>

You can find Page 1 of the review <A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/athlon64.html" target="_new">here</A>

It is therefore extremely likely the Athlon64 will support DDR400 upon release.

As for Opteron AMD will firstly perform strict validation and stress testing before recommending DDR400 ECC memory for it servers.

<b>P.S Cop a load of this: <A HREF="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=10056" target="_new">"HP to take AMD64 route"</A> & <A HREF="http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/06/18/HNathlon64_1.html" target="_new">"HP preparing Athlon64 3100+ desktop"</A></b>

Does this mean another win for AMD ?? What the hell are HP doing dabbling with Athlon64s' after they spent millions developing IA64 ???!?!? It also looks like AMD haven't resolved the clockspeed issues as the spec sheet only states 1.8GHz (+3100) which is a bit disapointing to say the least ..Hmmmm....


<font color=purple>Ladies and Gentlemen, its...Hammer Time !</font color=purple><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mr_gobbledegook on 06/18/03 02:17 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[mr_gobbledegook]

Also...
Im sure intel would much prefer to see HP sell Barton based 3200+ systems than A64 based system. Every A64 based system that sells, increases the installed hardware base of AMD64 (formerly known as x86-64) systems. That will become an important issue in a few years.

Also.. I'm curious if HP will use the 64 bitness for its branding and advertising ?

<font color=purple>Ladies and Gentlemen, its...Hammer Time !</font color=purple>

 

[cybratel]

News.com posted this article this morning about the HP PC running the Athlon64. <A HREF="http://news.com.com/2100-1006_3-1018579.html?type=pt&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news" target="_new">http://news.com.com/2100-1006_3-1018579.html?type=pt&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news</A>
Things are looking more interisitng all the time.

 

[rcj187]

the athlon 64 and opteron both support ddr400. however no opteron platform uses it as they are server cpus on server platforms which require ecc registered ram. as there is no ecc registered ddr400 currently available no opteron can ru ddr400. athlon64 however will be able to use any ram and therefore will run fine with ddr400 modules

 

[Mephistopheles]

last I read, A64 didn't have dual channel memory functionality... is that right?

 

[rcj187]

you're right it doesnt, although the fact that its mem controller is on die should help enough that it doesnt need dual channel

 

[Mephistopheles]

It should help, yes, but that still gives Intel platforms quite an edge nonetheless... I've seen the numbers that indicate that the on die controller is up to 90~95% efficient, while Canterwood-Springdale has a bandwidth efficiency of 75-80% or so. Problem is, 75%*6.4GB/s is 4.8GB/s, and 90%*3.2GB/s is still just 2.88GB/s. Then, of course, there's the reduced latency... But is that really enough? :tongue:

I guess we'll have to wait and see how A64's mem system competes with canterwood's, springdale's or even grantsdale's.

Plus, having an integrated memory controller might reduce upgradability... let's see.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

But it's not just Intel that A64 has to compete with. Think of how many AXPs are running on nForce2 mobos with HyperX, XMS-LL, or other low-latency RAM! It is entirely possible that many AXP systems will outperform A64 systems just because of this.

"<i>Yeah, if you treat them like equals, it'll only encourage them to think they <b>ARE</b> your equals.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030603" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>

 

[tabytha77]

Athlon shipping date likely moving up:

<A HREF="http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article.asp?datePublish=2003/06/19&pages=04&seq=20" target="_new">http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article.asp?datePublish=2003/06/19&pages=04&seq=20</A>

- edit -
I should make this a new post I suppose.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by tabytha77 on 06/19/03 11:54 AM.</EM></FONT></P>