Athlon 64 FX-60 Released by AMD

[fitbabits]

Next Generation (http://www.next-gen.biz) has the details (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2000&Itemid=2).

Intel-rival Advanced Micro Devices has shipped the PC gaming-centric Athlon 64 FX-60 dual-core processor.

AMD VP Bob Brewer said that the FX-60 will be able to utilize a growing amount of gaming software that is becoming increasingly effective in exploiting dual-core processors.
I've heard that this processor goes as fast as shit off a shovel - it had better given the retail price of $1031!

[mpsmith]

I'm still waiting on the cheaper dual-cores to be cheap.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

What god damn socket is it?![I assume/hope 939] Ive got an FX-55 and would be willing to upgrade if all goes well and it works like they say.I want some technical reviews not "its released go buy it!" press releases.

[fitbabits]

What god damn socket is it?! Ive got an FX-55 and would be willing to upgrade if all goes well and it works like they say. Other than that I want some technical reviews not "its released go buy it!" press releases.
I believe it's a god damn Socket 939! Quit getting your knickers in a bind - your FX-55 is pretty powerful enough.

[earthworm48]

Wow those CPUs are always so appealing, at such great prices. :rolleyes:

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Well Im just somewhat pissed because I built this system a few months ago and still feel guilty for not getting the 57 then this comes out...

~Bleh Im not impressed x2 core procs so far and doubt this will change my opinion on them, now that I think about it.

[Frogleg Special]

And Intel answers with: ...........

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Intel is never releasing a new line of processors because HYPER THREADING OWNS J00!!! According to them and and a lot of morons at least...

[GrinR]

Mobile Athlon 2500 oced to 3200 here on an Nforce2 board. Everything runs great, no regrets. Why upgrade?

(2 gigs of RAM is the best investment I ever made, short of the Orchid Righteous 3D card)

[Morratut]

And Intel answers with: ...........

......this....

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/28/intels_65_nm_process_breathes_fire_into_double_cor e_extreme_edition/

[abso]

I'm still waiting for applications that will take advantage of the multicore chips, let alone the 64-bit aspect of them. Didn't stop me from buying a x2-3800, but it would be nice to have the thing be used. Here's to hoping Vista will start that push.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Odds are it wont perform as well as AMDs top unless the program/OS fully utilizes it... just like all x2 anything procs...

[[Jez]]

I'm still running a 2400xp 133fsb here.... I need me a new chip but 32 bit ones are getting quite hard to find and I'm too poor to upgrade mobo/chip :(

[Nite_Moogle]

I've heard that this processor goes as fast as shit off a shovel
I'm not sure who you talked to, but fresh poo is pretty sticky.

[fitbabits]

I'm not sure who you talked to, but fresh poo is pretty sticky.
Not the kind you shovel, though! Think manure.

[Borys]

Any benchmarks? What's the point of buying that fast CPU now?

GrinR is right - 2GB of RAM should be everyone's priority. BF2 runs like a dream on 2GB machine.

[Evil_SPanKY]

I'm not sure who you talked to, but fresh poo is pretty sticky.

Euwww, and you know this from experience? Care to share your previous experiences with us?

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Any benchmarks? What's the point of buying that fast CPU now?

GrinR is right - 2GB of RAM should be everyone's priority. BF2 runs like a dream on 2GB machine.

How about if we already have that...

[JazGalaxy]

I've heard that this processor goes as fast as shit off a shovel - it had better given the retail price of $1031!

That doesn't even make sense. I hate when people use any excuse to work in a cuss word...

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

That doesn't even make sense. I hate when people use any excuse to work in a cuss word...

Please explain that shit.

[fitbabits]

That doesn't even make sense. I hate when people use any excuse to work in a cuss word...
It's a popular saying nonetheless! And I hate it when people use any excuse to criticize others without thinking.

[Onea]

Whats with the "I'm waiting until programs are optimized for 2x processors..." deal? Who cares about single programs? Multicore processors excel in letting you run MANY programs at once, without taking a hit in performance.

[bapenguin]

I'm still waiting for applications that will take advantage of the multicore chips, let alone the 64-bit aspect of them. Didn't stop me from buying a x2-3800, but it would be nice to have the thing be used. Here's to hoping Vista will start that push.

I'm pretty sure most of the Adobe apps are, like Photoshop.

[51|RandoM]

Whats with the "I'm waiting until programs are optimized for 2x processors..." deal? Who cares about single programs? Multicore processors excel in letting you run MANY programs at once, without taking a hit in performance.

Typically, i think it'd be called a rationalization. :p

When it comes to gaming, at least, you don't have to wait, since nvidia has multicore support in their driver already.

If you're running a windows OS, pop up your task manager(use ps or similar on UNIX/LINUX). Now look at your process list. Should make it obvious that ANYBODY can benefit from dual core. Even if you've got a dedicated box that does exactly one thing(like folding or seti), you've still got to remember you're running an OS and a window manager of some type too.

I'm on an FX-55 myself. I'm not waiting for dual-core, I'm waiting for a dual core proc where each core is faster than my single core, and where the processor falls within my current budget.

[ÜberJumper]

I just went from a P4 2.26 Ghz 1GB of memory, to a AMD Dual Core 3800+ X2 and 2 GB of memory. BF2 performs much better with 2GB (Initially I had 1 GB with the dual core).

[Schnoogs]

I just read recently that new video drivers will be taking advantage of dual cores. I don't have specifics so I'll see if I can dig up a link.

I do a lot of multithreaded programming so these dual cores are right up my allley. Although 1K is too rich for my blood.

UPDATE..

Link found...gains are small but they're still gains

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2629

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Bleh, screw ATI. Id just like to have the top of the current gen[proc] and then stick with it till late in the next and upgrade everything.

[total]

To everyone posting about Intel answering with....

Intel still doesn't need to answer with anything. Dell is still shipping their PC's with just Intel processors. Intel still has about 90% marketshare (they might have dropped to 85%) and is still posting in the green. Hell Intel is going to be providing every chip in Apple's computers before too long. If AMD wins their lawsuit or manages to gain a bit more marketshare then Intel might need to start working hard again for their profits. As of right now Intel is on top, and has been on top from the begginning.

BTW, I have 5 AMD boxes in my basement, along with my main in my bedroom. I am no Intel fanboy, just stating some facts that people don't seem to pay attention to.

[abso]

Yeah, I have Photoshop CS2. But I don't really use it enough to get much out of it. The one nice thing though is that I can run many programs at once with minimal slow down. The chips are worth it now, but they are still under utilized imo.

[51|RandoM]

To everyone posting about Intel answering with....

Intel still doesn't need to answer with anything. Dell is still shipping their PC's with just Intel processors. Intel still has about 90% marketshare (they might have dropped to 85%) and is still posting in the green. Hell Intel is going to be providing every chip in Apple's computers before too long. If AMD wins their lawsuit or manages to gain a bit more marketshare then Intel might need to start working hard again for their profits. As of right now Intel is on top, and has been on top from the begginning.


Intel needed to answer with something a year ago, at least in the server space. Their share in the 1 to 8-way space is steadily eroding, with no relief in sight. Their marriage to Dell is great for them, but relying heavily upon it will turn out to dancing with a double-edge sword. The apple deal is purely marketing, at least from the Intel perspective. Apple traditionally has unrealistic expectations when compared to the size of their orders. Except for the marketing black eye, IBM is probably happy to not have to retool for their tiny runs.

OTH, Intel is extremely diversified. They can afford to bleed in the PC space indefinately, or even toss it altogher if they really wanted to. They'll be back strong, now that they've changed their roadmap towards something more competitive. Get the memory controller on die like AMD and they're most of the way back towards competitiveness.

[Com_Gaunt]

This news item from last year might be interesting: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27886
Basically, AMD's share of the server market has increased considerably.

[danhoo]

Also, didn't I read an announcement on Slashdot recently that said Dell was planning on releasing AMD-based machines?

[A Lusty Alien]

Dell is still shipping their PC's with just Intel processors.

It was my understanding that Dell was going to start offering PCs with AMD processors because gamers, who typically purchase large ticket price PCs, were demanding AMD processors.

[XenonCJ]

Hmmm... I bought a 2.53Ghz p4 in 2002.... Now I'm supposed to buy a 2.6Ghz chip, for a THOUSAND BUX, in 2006, with dual core which is barely used, and 64bit which isn't used...

I know it's apples and oranges here... just seems fucked though...

[mpsmith]

A 2.6GHz AMD compared to a 2.5GHz P4 is no comparison. My 2.2GHz AMD is as fast or faster than a 3.6GHz P4.

Per clock cycle, Athlons beat the shit out of Pentiums.

Oh, and about Dell and AMD: I heard that theyre just going to sell the processors by themselves- not AMD-based systems. Apparently this is so Dell/Intel can claim that AMD has representation. Basically I heard it was just for legal reasons and not pragmatic (or maybe legal reasons are pragmatic).

[fitbabits]

Hmmm... I bought a 2.53Ghz p4 in 2002.... Now I'm supposed to buy a 2.6Ghz chip, for a THOUSAND BUX, in 2006, with dual core which is barely used, and 64bit which isn't used...

I know it's apples and oranges here... just seems fucked though...
Well, when you consider that my now lowly AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Socket 939) absolutely kills a 3.2Ghz Pentium 4 (in most cases), you'll perhaps see what the FX-60 offers over anything else on the market. Speed is not an accurate measure of how a processor perfoms. Intel have realized this recently and have dropped the speed designation from their processor names accordingly.

[Schnoogs]

Anandtech article complete with benchmarks.


Anandtech Benchmark (http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2668&p=1)

[total]

Intel needed to answer with something a year ago, at least in the server space. Their share in the 1 to 8-way space is steadily eroding, with no relief in sight. Their marriage to Dell is great for them, but relying heavily upon it will turn out to dancing with a double-edge sword. The apple deal is purely marketing, at least from the Intel perspective. Apple traditionally has unrealistic expectations when compared to the size of their orders. Except for the marketing black eye, IBM is probably happy to not have to retool for their tiny runs.

OTH, Intel is extremely diversified. They can afford to bleed in the PC space indefinately, or even toss it altogher if they really wanted to. They'll be back strong, now that they've changed their roadmap towards something more competitive. Get the memory controller on die like AMD and they're most of the way back towards competitiveness.

I'd agree with you both on the server market. Intel shot themselves in the foot twice in that market, back to back at that. Itanium (it was Itanium right?) was a complete flop because Intel spent so much R&D on IA64 and expected everyone to just except losing their 32-bit apps. When AMD dropped their backwards compatable 64-bit they rocked Intel. How many AMD servers did you see out there before the Opteron? None. Now AMD servers are common place, but IBM still holds the server market in my book. You will be hard pressed to find a serious server running something aside from RISC. The thing about the server market though is that Intel doesn't need it. Intel's roadmap shows them pulling further and further away from servers. They seem to be pushing more and more into mobiles and low power desktops (a market they already own btw). I will get back to this later. I have a meeting. You guys make good points, I just don't see the server market as integral to Intel's survival.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Finally, thanks Assassin. Guess Ill just wait for the next line.

[abso]

Hmmm... I bought a 2.53Ghz p4 in 2002.... Now I'm supposed to buy a 2.6Ghz chip, for a THOUSAND BUX, in 2006, with dual core which is barely used, and 64bit which isn't used...

I know it's apples and oranges here... just seems fucked though...

It's no longer about Ghz, but about how much you can do per clock cycle. The major changes in cpus have been in the way instructions are handled. There has also been an increase towards parallelism along the pipeline. All of those things mean you can do more with each clock cycle. Essentially, a 2ghz machine could process more instructions each second than a 4ghz machine. There just isn't enough room to pack more transistors, nor a solid way to get power to the transistors without producing too much heat, which interferes with data integrity. A true physical limit to speed with existing silicon manufacturing techniques has essentially been reached, hence the slow down in speed of cpus.

[Zurik]

Fun fact: the number after AMD processor's is what speed of a Pentium is equal to. Like a 3500+ is 3.5Ghz or 2000+ is 2Ghz.

[XenonCJ]

Fun fact: the number after AMD processor's is what speed of a Pentium is equal to. Like a 3500+ is 3.5Ghz or 2000+ is 2Ghz.So is the 60 supposed to be == 6.0Ghz?

[isolated1]

The regular Athlon 64 with a 3500+ or 4000+ label at the end are supposed to be like a intel 3.5 or 4.0. The Athlon 64 FX part # (FX60) aren't comparing the number with how they measure up to intels clockspeed.

Also, I would wait a few months for socket am2 instead of buying a system with the FX60. They are not going any higher in clockspeeds with cpus for socket 939.

[The Iron Weasel]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO......My FX-57 is no longer the gaming elite processor!!!! Oh well I knew it would happen, I'm actually surprized it didn't happen faster.

[bboy]

leapsbeyond.com (http://www.leapsbeyond.com) delivers a hefty kick in the nuts to leapahead.com (http://www.leapahead.com) ;)