Higher Clock Speeds, No TLB Issues and Better Pricing: The New Phenom
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 27, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Overall System Performance - SYSMark 2007
SYSMark 2007 is an application benchmark suite that plays back real world usage scenarios in four categories (E-Learning, Video Creation, Productivity and 3D), using the following applications:
Adobe After Effects 7
Adobe Illustrator CS2
Adobe Photoshop CS2
AutoDesk 3ds Max 8
Macromedia Flash 8
Microsoft Excel 2003
Microsoft Outlook 2003
Microsoft PowerPoint 2003
Microsoft Word 2003
Microsoft Project 2003
Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9 series
Sony Vegas 7
SketchUp 5
WinZip 10.0
Performance is measured in each individual category and then an overall score is reported.
The new Phenom processors are finally within striking range of Intel, while the Q6600 still manages a 7% lead over the X4 9850 the latter is priced a bit cheaper and thus is within the realm of competition.
The fact that the dual core Athlon 64 X2 6400+ manages to almost equal the performance of the 9750 illustrates two points:
1) AMD desperately needs to increase clock speeds of its Phenom line, and
2) Most applications still don't benefit tremendously from four cores, paving the way for AMD's triple core Phenom X3 to clean up in the $150 - $200 space.
The productivity test shows us something very interesting - the Core 2 Quad Q9300's 6MB of L2 cache (3MB shared per pair of cores) actually makes it slightly slower than the outgoing Q6600, which has a full 8MB (4MB per pair of cores). The rest of the numbers indicate that this is obviously not a problem elsewhere, but it's still worth noting.
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ap90033 - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
Amen brother, I had the Athlon 64 when it ruled, but now i have E8400 since it smokes AMD's best...So I guess I am an AMD/Intel Fan BOY!!!
No offense but this artlicle had a very strong slant towards AMD, even though Intel destroys their newest and best with a 1+ year old chip. Dont you find that the least bit odd....? If anyone is sounding like a "Fanboy" I would say it would have to be you Mr. Crusader for AMD. LOL
Dude when you get to where I am you will see, it doesnt matter what the fluff is, get the FACTS and decide with your dollars there... Sheesh...
AssBall - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
I thought it was a very well written article. I didn't get any OMGAMDFTW out of it like you apparently did. Your "Man" would not be up already if AMD wasn't still churning these new procs out. Good luck finding those special Intel prices then.Olaf van der Spek - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
> We get the impression that there are some speed paths that could be optimized on the current B2 and B3 Phenoms that simply aren't because of a very sensible thought process.I'm wondering why those speed paths haven't been fixed before the first launch. Certainly it wasn't good for AMD to only introduce them at low clock frequencies.
Visual - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
It's really disheartening for a "fanboy" like me to see AMD beaten all over the board again.I may very well build a system or two with AMD parts because of the 780G chipset and its great budget video performance, but for a full-blown performance system i'll certainly go with Intel now.
AMD better hurry up with their 45nm tech, its way overdue.
Griswold - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
"AMD better hurry up with their 45nm tech, its way overdue."You're right, Intel has been selling 45nm parts for like a year now... oh wait, no they havent.
If you meant overdue as in they need it to (hopefully) achieve higher clock speeds and lower power consumption in addition to lower production cost, then you got that right.
If they keep their schedule with 45nm, they will have narrowed the gap between process shrinks vs. intel a bit again - which is good. But things like that dont happen overnight.
MoonRocket - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
Can anyone identify the case on the 3ghz where are you page?Looks interesting.
AmberClad - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
It looks like the CoolerMaster Stacker 830 to me.dnz - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
We musn't forget how great an overclocker the Q6600 is. My system is running at 3.2GHz (8x400) and I'm using cheap DDR2-800 RAM. The Q9300 may have some advantages but overclocking it is going to require some VERY expensive RAM.Griswold - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
First you'll need an good mobo that can deliver high FSB for these 45nm quads. RAM is secondary (can always use a divider if needed).ui5200 - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - link
Maybe this will cause intel to finally release the latest Dual and Quad core chips (oh like the E8400 that's been 'out of stock' for months)? Or is this another paper launch ?