Is the ASUS crosshair V+580 giving biased results for the Bulldozer?

[mailpranshu]

Hi Guys,

I have stumbled upon something rather strange. Like any other builder I had been waiting for the FX with bated breath. It has been a disappointment and all sites across the net have thrashed it. Let me summarize some of the obvious pitfalls detailed on Toms, Anands, X bit etc.

1. Performs lower than the 2500k.
2. Power consumption is high.
3. Single core performance is dismal. Worse than even the 1100T in some cases!!!!
4. Gaming performance is downright bad.

I am from an engineering background(electronics) and have an additional finance background as well(MBA finance). I know how companies work and the pricing made no sense to me in any scenario. Let me summarize again.

1. Why Had AMD prices something so high when it knows it will not perform from day 1?
2. Whats the point of making a sure shot loss from day 1?
3. Why is the gaming performance so dismal? Wasn't ultra high resolution gaming its USP?
4. Where is the overclocking? 4.5ish GHz???? That's it???!!!!!!!!
5. Was there any testing done? Even a simple die shrink would have improved heating and efficiency.

So I wanted to have a further look. This was a mystery that needed looking into. I also noticed something else. All the testing on all the sites has been done on this kit. Link below.

http://morethanchessagame.forumotion.com/t1987-amd-fx-bulldozer-press-kit-pictured-stuffed-with-fx-8150-cpu-asus-crosshair-v-formula-and-scorpius-platform-badge

Now, all big sites have been given this kit including Toms. It makes sense because I am guessing Asus has an agreement with AMD to make its mother boards the "official" ones for testing. Also all these sites have used a 580 GTX quoting minimal graphics bottleneck. I agree its a sound rationale.

I confirmed at some other sites as well. The Asus + 580GTX has been used pretty much everywhere.

Its then that I went over to hardwareheaven and had a look. They have stayed away from the press kit and used an Asrock board. Here is the review link.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1285/pg1/amd-fx-8150-black-edition-8-core-processor-vs-core-i7-2600k-review-introduction.html

Now, Toms has come up with results exactly the same as all other sites that used the press kit. Lets have a look at some big changes on the benches.

Also, all sites except hardwareheaven has used a 580Gtx. Lets have a look at some gaming benches. That's what matters to us right?

3DMark 11

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1285/pg9/amd-fx-8150-black-edition-8-core-processor-vs-core-i7-2600k-review-3dmark-11.html

Win

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8150-zambezi-bulldozer-990fx,3043-13.html

Massive loss!!!!!

F1 2011


http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1285/pg11/amd-fx-8150-black-edition-8-core-processor-vs-core-i7-2600k-review-f1-2011.html

Win

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8150-zambezi-bulldozer-990fx,3043-19.html

Massive loss!!!!!

Also when I go through the whole hardware heaven review it gives it a good rating placing it close to the 2600K and above the 2500K. Which in turn is in line with their strategy. It does lose in some benches but is still very very close to the 2500K.

This is extremely strange. Please go through the site yourself.

So to conclude:
1. Can Toms and others please do a test with other 990 boards?
2. Can we please have a comparison with more AMD and Nvidia cards?
3. Who do we trust? Isn't a biased review completely anti against AMD from day 1?
4. Can some one else independently run benches with the 2500K, 2600K and 8150 using different cards and mother boards?
5. Is there a Nvidia Intel nexus to make sure 8150 looks bad? Was the BFBC3 patch doctored for more than just RAGE???( remember Hawx 2 tessellation)

Please post links here. And don't post links for other sites as there is a strong anti AMD bias/ vibe. I think we users need to take things in our own hands and check this out. Can some one use their own personal hardware and run benches?

I am not an AMD fan or a conspiracy nut. I use both builds and use Nvidia as well. So lets keep this discussion open and friendly. No trolling please.

And can the seniors moderators and testers at Toms please step in and explain? Can a new test be done?

 

[statikregimen]

Buy whatever fits your pocket. No one gets any discount from being a dedicated fan we all pay the same price

This. I have been a big fan of AMD for a long time, but never at any point would I hesitate to buy Intel, if they offer the better bang-for-buck, in my price range. AMD got lucky in my circumstances, and the fx-8120 made sense - its been a nice upgrade for me. But if I were building from scratch, I'd have a sandy bridge right now.

 

[SessouXFX]

After reading this, I'm hanging on to my Crosshair V. Every MoBo maker is different and have different ways of going about their business. Thing about ROGs Crosshair, if you don't have a clear idea of how to tweak that board, you could very well end up with worse performance than you should. Now everything makes more sense. I had a feeling it had something to do with the cards, but I never would have suspected the MoBo until giving it some thought.