nForce3 Pro and Opteron 144 Benchmarks

ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
edited September 2003 in Science & Tech
Amdmb.com has published a review of the new NVIDIA nForce3 Professional chipset coupled with the AMD Opteron 144 processor running at 1.8 GHz. Both workstation and desktop configurations are compared to the latest from Intel, their 3.2 GHz P4.
In our short round of tests aimed at the desktop market, we saw that the Opteron 144 processor was doing well, but perhaps not what we were looking for quite yet. The memory scores on the synthetic benchmarks show the potential for the AMD64 architecture, especially in DDR400. While the results are positive, with the Opteron winning many of the benchmarks even at a speed of only 1.8 GHz, there are a couple of places they need to improve on before the desktop CPU launch on September 23rd.

Source : AMDmb

Comments

  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    hmm. The Athlon's performance is quite impressive, especially considering that it's a reference board, and it's got a 1.4GHz clockspeed disadvantage...
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Yeah, that article concurs with what TheSMJ, Thrax, and myself figured out....
  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited September 2003
    I'm not too concerned about the benchmarking the AMD64 family of processors has shown.

    I think the situation is similar to when the P4 was first introduced: software isn't optimized. Give it 12-18 months (or less) and I think we'll see a much different story. Look at what the P4 did once SSE2 had been written into programs and the clockspeed jumped to well over 2GHz?

    When a 64-bit Windows is ready and popular software packages/programs have been written to leverage AMD64 processors is when I'll be concerned, if its shown that AMD64 is not laying some serious smack down on the Intel chips.

    Now, concern isn't the same thing as interest. I'm interested in all the benchmarks, but seeing the Opteron lagging doesn't concern me. Unless Yamhill makes a debut soon, I don't think AMD will have much to worry about once the 64-bit O/Ss and programs are widely available.

    I'd love to see an AMD64-optimized F@H core running on a 2.4GHz or faster Opteron/Athlon64.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    I'm concerned about the the nForce3 pro!

    It's ~40% slower than the AMD8000, and the only workstation chipset available for the Opteron. nVidia's seriously tarnishing the Opteron's image (Which IS better than a 3.2 p4/3200+ at 2GHz) by being the only chipset for the desktop, and being so damn slower than the 2xx competition. All people see is the nForce3 Pro and say "Wow, that's slow. Why should I buy that?" Meanwhile the AMD8000 is stomping p4s flat.

    Come the hell on nVidia.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited September 2003
    We still have this board to look forward to... :D


    MSI K8T Master2-FAR Product Page

    attachment.php?s=&postid=29283

    And the Tyan AMD8000 Based K8W
    attachment.php?s=&postid=29509
  • panzerkwpanzerkw New York City
    edited September 2003
    Looks great, but I dunno if I can afford 2 Opteron 246's
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited September 2003
    Buy One and upgrade later... :D
  • panzerkwpanzerkw New York City
    edited September 2003
    Oh you can get away with only using one? Time to save up for a springtime purchase :D
  • WuGgaRoOWuGgaRoO Not in the shower Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    that msi board will be mine...mine i tell u...mine...mwahahahah
    /edit
    what is the deal with passive northbnridge cooling...werent we over thisphase already???
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    You <i>hope</i> that the K8T800 chipset is good.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    Thrax: It's Via. So, of course, it'll suck. :rolleyes:
    TheSMJ: Passive cooling goooood. Passive cooling means bigger heatsinks. If you screw a fan onto them, they'll outperform the dinky active northbridge coolers (like the one on the NF7-S, for example...)

    That Tyan board looks nice... wonder how much it'll be early next year...
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited September 2003
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Now THAT'S a motherboard.. I friggin love Tyan!
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited September 2003
    Note: Both the MSI & Tyan Dual Opteron Mobos require the 24 pin (EPS12V?) Power supplies

    Also the Tyan mobo has 13 mounting points. That's one LARGE motherboard. It wont fit in our standard (or large) ATX cases
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    Well $500 isn't bad for a high-end server/workstation board... It's about $250 more than I'm willing to spend tho...
  • panzerkwpanzerkw New York City
    edited September 2003
    Helluva board, I wonder what PCI express multimedia cards (sound cards, etc) will be available by next spring.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Those aren't PCI Express slots - they're PCI-X and 64bit/66mhz PCI slots.
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    primesuspect said
    Those aren't PCI Express slots - they're PCI-X and 64bit/66mhz PCI slots.
    I would guess the X = express :p
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    The only card that I recall seeing for a 64b/133mHz slot is a raid drive card. I can't imagine what else would use the bandwidth.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Some giggy ethernet cards use 64bit slots as well.
  • WuGgaRoOWuGgaRoO Not in the shower Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    what ever happened to twisted sister technology....remmeber..that **** that u could connect two graphics cards at the same time...similiar to that of what voodoo 2 had the ability to do..at any rate...perhaps pci express...u will bbe able to have multiple graphics cards...like multi cpus...cept multi vpus or gpus
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited September 2003
    I know there's a whole site dedicated to multiple video card setups and some company that makes nvidia based cards specifically for multiple video card environments. Anyways here's the best link I had time to find. Using multiple video cards is pretty easy under most modern operating systems (I've messed around with it using MetroX on Linux before):

    http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,3342609,00.html
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