Already ordered six 720s and two 940s, let's see when they get here... DDR3 was useless since the beginning and still is. It's all about latency, and on-die controllers are very latency sensitive. The high throughput compensates for that a little (but only for the fastest DDR3 available) but considering the price, DDR3 is a failure and will be useless until we see cheap, high clocked 4GB sticks.
My faith in AMD was well deserved. I'm going to buy 720BE(+1066MHz DDR2). I wonder when I'll see these CPUs arrive in my country.
Ah, I can't wait to start OCing it. I think I'll see BIOS screen in my dreams 'till I get my new 720...
Thing is, the MSI 790GX board is a bag of pants so I didnt want to OC on that, so I'm going to have a play with it in this DFI 790FX and Gigabyte AM3 in the next few days :)
The 720BE looks very attractive to me, especially consideing that it is the same price as a E7500 and 20£ below a E8500 (that and the fact that I have 4GB DDR3 that I am currently not using from the x48 days).
Guys, AM3 is actually 941 pins. This DDR2/3 'AM3' CPU has 938 pins since 2 are missing to make them fit into the AM2(+) socket - as seen in the pic two patches are 3 instead of 2 pin long. THese are moved on the AM3 socket and in conjunction to that, the socket has all 4 corners chamfered instead of one being 'cut' to an 'L' like with AM(+). Fitting all 941 pins on a CPU will make it AM2 incompatible which is logical since DDR3 only CPUs are coming. There are then only 2 sockets but actually (probably) 3 pinouts for the CPUs.
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi Thing is, the MSI 790GX board is a bag of pants so I didnt want to OC on that, so I'm going to have a play with it in this DFI 790FX and Gigabyte AM3 in the next few days :)
Would you be able to tell us what processors might be featured? And also how many other games were you gonna test? I was personally happy about the games choices because crysis was in there, crysis is one of the few games around that actually requires both a powerful CPU and a powerful GPU instead of just being GPU orientated with the CPU being a boost. I was gonna get a x2 7750BE but seeing how well the x3 710 performs I stopped looking down on triple core and for £30 extra (give or take) it makes quite a difference. Look forward to the overclocking review.
Aww whats with the resolution testing on the games, ugh the Phenom II start to overtake the Core I7 in resolutions higher then 1680x1050 ~_~ oh well.... still a nice close race ^_^
Why didnt AMD release these with the new chipsets? It just makes more sense to me to release a new processor and its chipset at the same time like intel did with i7 and X58. Yes i know the 800 series is a long way off but didnt anybody say "it would be more effective to release them (and thereby develop them) at the same time"? Can DDR2 run in triple channel mode? If so that would be a nice alternative to DDR3 until the prices go down.....
because this way seeing how it works on AM2+ people who cant afford a big upgrade at once can buy this AM3 cpu and use it on their AM2+ board and then save money again and then when it comes out get the AM3 board, it makes perfect since to me. I think is also the best way to upgrade as it lets you distribute the expense :)
Originally Posted by dec Why didnt AMD release these with the new chipsets? It just makes more sense to me to release a new processor and its chipset at the same time like intel did with i7 and X58. Yes i know the 800 series is a long way off but didnt anybody say "it would be more effective to release them (and thereby develop them) at the same time"? Can DDR2 run in triple channel mode? If so that would be a nice alternative to DDR3 until the prices go down.....
Intel NEEDED a new chipset because of the integrated memory controler. AMD doesn't need that. And DDR2 could run in triple channel mode, it's a thing of the controller. There's just not any point. Even dual channel is what, 5% in the real world? Sure, it doubles the bandwidth but makes it all more expensive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssj12 does Am3 processors work with on AM2 (not AM2+) motherboards? or am I going to have to buy a new motherboard....
Some people have luck with an M2N-SLI and the higher end Asus models are supposed to be working. Check your mobo CPu support list to be sure. In general, AM2+ is the way to go.
I also like the layout of the new GigaByte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P AM3 motherboard and the little brother GigaByte GA-MA790XT-UD4P. But if you already have a recent am2+ motherboard I think it is best to stick with it unless you want to pay for a expensive motherboard and DDR3 ram. The cheaper option would be to buy a recent AM2+ motherboard and DDR2 ram. But since there are little recent AM2+ motherboards reviewed on BT, witch on to get is a thinker...
My person wish would be a AM3 motherboard with DDR2 memory support, no ide, no fdd, 90degree sata along the edge. I hope some motherboard engineer would read this last sentence. ;)
The top range AM3 motherboards:
Gigabyte AM3 pics can be found here. very nice layout!
MSI AM3 pics can be found here... Also a very nice layout with quad crossfire and overclocker options like potentiometers and buttons.
ECS AM3 pics can be found here... Very clean layout and no FDD!
DFI, Foxconn and ASRock don't have AM3 boards out (yet)
Asus is a bit of a let down to me, the Asus AM3 range looks very outdated compared to MSI and Gigabyte. Even Biostars first and only AM3 motherboard looks better. Both Gigabyte and MSI are the winners with very nice layouts and great feature sets.
Originally Posted by Goty AMD's workforce has next to nothing to do with their level of production; it has more to do with R&D, I'd assume.
Well, if the guys actually pushing the buttons that make the productionmachines go "whirrrrr" are off for 50%, that could make an impact on their production im my opinion ;-)
Besides I haven't got the foggiest on how the R&D guys are working at the moment. :D
something else to note is considering how close the performance is with this DDR3 setup and its still dual channel, and when you factor is cost, man when those triple channel boards hit the market I think Intel will be a bit of hurt. :)
Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn something else to note is considering how close the performance is with this DDR3 setup and its still dual channel, and when you factor is cost, man when those triple channel boards hit the market I think Intel will be a bit of hurt. :)
AMD is not interested in triple channel in consumer boards.
Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn then why has it been mentioned in their road maps for the 8xx chiupset? and the talks of how they may go straight to quad channel instead of triple.
The chipset has nothing to do with the memory controller which resides on the CPU. So unless AMD is going to bring out new cores with updated controllers (I'd guess it would be Opteron only anyway), then I doubt it will make the consumer space before Fusion ... which will arrive when Duke Nuken Forever does. It doesn't have enough resource to QA a rehash to the current K10 line for more memory when its execution engine and lack of multi-hyperthreading is leaving it behind in performance. Besides, memory performance is not its bottleneck - otherwise we'd all be wanting AM3 CPUs.
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi The chipset has nothing to do with the memory controller which resides on the CPU. So unless AMD is going to bring out new cores with updated controllers (I'd guess it would be Opteron only anyway), then I doubt it will make the consumer space before Fusion ... which will arrive when Duke Nuken Forever does. It doesn't have enough resource to QA a rehash to the current K10 line for more memory when its execution engine and lack of multi-hyperthreading is leaving it behind in performance. Besides, memory performance is not its bottleneck - otherwise we'd all be wanting AM3 CPUs.
I know the chipset doesnt have anything to do with the memory controller, Im just saying they stated that triple/quad channel would be around that time in the road maps for the Phenoms so maybe they will be releasing new cpus for it, maybe the 900 series CPU for AM3 version will support it, Im just stating what I read but ehh sure they could have changed the road maps, again Im just stating what I read and what was asked and told to me during the AMD Insight panel.
I also disagree that the problem isnt the memory, It would seem to me that is the memory is its bottleneck when you look at all the test results. Besides more people will be going for AMD soon enough with how bad the world economy is going unless Intel drops prices, you can pretty much build a kickass AMD system that will play all the games and do all your work for a lot less then what you can do with an Intel setup.
Comments 1 to 25 of 27
Reply3 games!?!? no overclocking!?!?! forgetting to list the motherboards used in the test setup!?!?
whats up with that guys! come on!! no overclocking with a black edition CPU should be illegal
Overclocking will come at some point in a separate piece. :)
Ah, I can't wait to start OCing it. I think I'll see BIOS screen in my dreams 'till I get my new 720...
Cheers i was wondering about the boards since later in the article 2 were mentioned
and alright schweet , but can i ask how well does the 730 OC? does it live up to its 940 big brother in that department?
Well, they're running with a max. of 50% workforce...and have stated they want to reduce silicon in the channel so this comes as no surprise. :D
Would you be able to tell us what processors might be featured? And also how many other games were you gonna test? I was personally happy about the games choices because crysis was in there, crysis is one of the few games around that actually requires both a powerful CPU and a powerful GPU instead of just being GPU orientated with the CPU being a boost. I was gonna get a x2 7750BE but seeing how well the x3 710 performs I stopped looking down on triple core and for £30 extra (give or take) it makes quite a difference. Look forward to the overclocking review.
Intel NEEDED a new chipset because of the integrated memory controler. AMD doesn't need that. And DDR2 could run in triple channel mode, it's a thing of the controller. There's just not any point. Even dual channel is what, 5% in the real world? Sure, it doubles the bandwidth but makes it all more expensive.
Some people have luck with an M2N-SLI and the higher end Asus models are supposed to be working. Check your mobo CPu support list to be sure. In general, AM2+ is the way to go.
My person wish would be a AM3 motherboard with DDR2 memory support, no ide, no fdd, 90degree sata along the edge. I hope some motherboard engineer would read this last sentence. ;)
The top range AM3 motherboards:
Gigabyte AM3 pics can be found here. very nice layout!
MSI AM3 pics can be found here... Also a very nice layout with quad crossfire and overclocker options like potentiometers and buttons.
Asus AM3 pics can be found here...
Biostar AM3 pics can be found here...
ECS AM3 pics can be found here... Very clean layout and no FDD!
DFI, Foxconn and ASRock don't have AM3 boards out (yet)
Asus is a bit of a let down to me, the Asus AM3 range looks very outdated compared to MSI and Gigabyte. Even Biostars first and only AM3 motherboard looks better. Both Gigabyte and MSI are the winners with very nice layouts and great feature sets.
Well, if the guys actually pushing the buttons that make the productionmachines go "whirrrrr" are off for 50%, that could make an impact on their production im my opinion ;-)
Besides I haven't got the foggiest on how the R&D guys are working at the moment. :D
AMD is not interested in triple channel in consumer boards.
then why has it been mentioned in their road maps for the 8xx chiupset? and the talks of how they may go straight to quad channel instead of triple.
The chipset has nothing to do with the memory controller which resides on the CPU. So unless AMD is going to bring out new cores with updated controllers (I'd guess it would be Opteron only anyway), then I doubt it will make the consumer space before Fusion ... which will arrive when Duke Nuken Forever does. It doesn't have enough resource to QA a rehash to the current K10 line for more memory when its execution engine and lack of multi-hyperthreading is leaving it behind in performance. Besides, memory performance is not its bottleneck - otherwise we'd all be wanting AM3 CPUs.
I know the chipset doesnt have anything to do with the memory controller, Im just saying they stated that triple/quad channel would be around that time in the road maps for the Phenoms so maybe they will be releasing new cpus for it, maybe the 900 series CPU for AM3 version will support it, Im just stating what I read but ehh sure they could have changed the road maps, again Im just stating what I read and what was asked and told to me during the AMD Insight panel.
I also disagree that the problem isnt the memory, It would seem to me that is the memory is its bottleneck when you look at all the test results. Besides more people will be going for AMD soon enough with how bad the world economy is going unless Intel drops prices, you can pretty much build a kickass AMD system that will play all the games and do all your work for a lot less then what you can do with an Intel setup.
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