AMD conquered the entry-level PC space

edited September 2009 in Hardware
Have you seen the new Athlon II X4 reviews? They perform amazingly well for just $99. They overclock well too. Cheap and capable toys for me. :bigggrin:

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2009
    Why, we have just such a kit on the test bench. ;)
  • edited September 2009
    I am looking forward to IC's review and discussion
  • lordbeanlordbean Ontario, Canada
    edited September 2009
    Athlon vs i5: FIGHT
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited September 2009
    in b4 Cliff
  • edited September 2009
    lordbean wrote:
    Athlon vs i5: FIGHT

    Please, let's not mix up the categories. We are talking about a $99 chip - but quad core.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited September 2009
    Hmm... maybe I'll actually upgrade my chip for once without building an entirely new system. Then again, my tests tell me that my GPU is my bottleneck, not my CPU.
  • edited September 2009
    ardichoke wrote:
    Hmm... maybe I'll actually upgrade my chip for once without building an entirely new system. Then again, my tests tell me that my GPU is my bottleneck, not my CPU.

    Looks like Athlon II X4 620 performs very close to Q6600 or Q8400 and overclocks 30-40%. Given that Q6600 is only available as used at a high price and Q8400 requires very high FSB (i.e. expensive MB and RAM) to overclock, Athlon II X4 can be a nice option as a budget overclock chip. Benchmarks show that it gets very close to PII X4 955 when overclocked, especially with applications that are not sensitive to L3 cache.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited September 2009
    And on top of that, one rumor going around says that some of the Athlon IIs are being built on the Deneb core and just have their L3 cache disabled. In other words, they could actually BE a Phenom if that L3 could get re-enabled.
  • edited September 2009
    Yes, they could shift some of the Deneb cores if the demand goes very high for these chips. But I am sure I would get the smaller Propus core with physically missing L3. I never win in such things :)
  • lordbeanlordbean Ontario, Canada
    edited September 2009
    Snarkasm wrote:
    And on top of that, one rumor going around says that some of the Athlon IIs are being built on the Deneb core and just have their L3 cache disabled. In other words, they could actually BE a Phenom if that L3 could get re-enabled.

    It wouldn't surprise me AT ALL if this is how they're making the chips, considering a Phenom II x3 is an x4 with the fourth core disabled. The proof is in the number of people (including me) that have successfully gotten the 4th core back online without problems. I'm sure there will be tons of people looking into the potential of turning an Athlon II x4 into a Phenom.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2009
    As a note, the Deneb core that these Athlon II X4s might be made from is the Phenom I. So you're basically upgrading from a Geo Metro to a Geo Prism. Fuck yeah?
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited September 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    As a note, the Deneb core that these Athlon II X4s might be made from is the Phenom I. So you're basically upgrading from a Geo Metro to a Geo Prism. Fuck yeah?
    Fuck yeah indeed... if you're upgrading from a Ford Pinto anyway. Har har har.

    Really though, I'm running an Athlon64 X2 5200 right now, the Athlon II X4 would be a solid upgrade. Turning it into a Phenom I would be a very nice upgrade, especially for under 100 bucks. Plus it would free up the X2 to build a 2nd computer once I actually RMA my fried motherboard.
  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    edited September 2009
    ardichoke wrote:
    Fuck yeah indeed... if you're upgrading from a Ford Pinto anyway. Har har har.

    Really though, I'm running an Athlon64 X2 5200 right now, the Athlon II X4 would be a solid upgrade. Turning it into a Phenom I would be a very nice upgrade, especially for under 100 bucks. Plus it would free up the X2 to build a 2nd computer once I actually RMA my fried motherboard.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649&cm_re=Phenom_II-_-19-103-649-_-Product

    For $119 I would highly recommend this chip to the "budget enthusiast"

    Do you need a thrid core and massive unlocked overclocking headroom? Maybe not, but its about $25 more, less than the cost of a single game, its a sick deal for $119.
  • edited September 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    As a note, the Deneb core that these Athlon II X4s might be made from is the Phenom I. So you're basically upgrading from a Geo Metro to a Geo Prism. Fuck yeah?

    Are you sure? I read here that Propus core of Athlon II X4 is a derivative of Phenom II not Phenom I. Crippled Deneb cores as Athlon II X4 is just a speculation for now. There are no such chips yet, right?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2009
    You're right, I got my codenames mixed up. There are so many for AMD that I lose track at times.

    Deneb = Phenom II X4, Heka = Phenom II X3, Callisto = Phenom II X2
    Propus = Athlon II X4, Rana = Athlon II X3, Regor = Phenom II X2

    ^ All of these chips are based on Phenom II silicon.

    I was thinking of the Athlon X2 series (Kuma) which is based on the original Phenom (Agena = X4, Toliman = X3).
  • edited September 2009
    Yep, quite confusing with so many names.
  • athalonheadathalonhead Member
    edited September 2009
    I always said I wont pay more than 100.00 for a cpu.
    I did pay 114.00 for my 170 though.
    I dont need to upgrade but this one is pretty tempting.
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