A8N-SLi Dual Core

[Gelardi]

How is that?: when the dual-core cpu's is out, you can just change the cpu and the motherboard will support it?

 

[darknodin]

where did you see that?

 

[JMag]

supposedly you will only need a BIOS update cause AMD's dual cores will have the same pin layout (939, well there will be dual core 940pin probably too...)

 

[dababus]

what would be the power requirements, since its a dual core.

 

[ribbon13]

No... there will be 940 pin dual cores, and maybe 939 pin ones.... why are these rumors of dual-core coming to 939 so rampant?

 

[FastEddie]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
No... there will be 940 pin dual cores, and maybe 939 pin ones.... why are these rumors of dual-core coming to 939 so rampant?

Because Anand's crew saw a dual core 939 running on an A8N SLI at CES.

 

[ribbon13]

I've seen lots of thing at CES that never made it to market, but at least its a rumor with substance. Thanks!

If dual core does come to 939, I will get one for my girlfriend. =D

 

[GuitarDaddy]

IMHO Dual core is the next step in CPU technology because chip developers (Intel,AMD) have "hit the wall" in their ability to continue to increase speed and performance on the single core platform(see todays article on Anandtech front page). The problem with dual core is that just like dual processor systems today, only a handful of non-server applications are written for and optimized for dual processing. On everything else your second processor is nothing more than a spare.

This will eventually drive software developers to optimize games and desktop apps for dual computing, but this will take time. And the amount of time it takes will be dependant on how quickly dual core grows on the desktop platform. First adopters will most likely pay the price of running at half speed on the majority of applications for a year or more.

Dual core will be very much like SLI is now, for the 3 or 4 games that take advantage its wonderful, for everything else its an extra $500 heater in your case to keep your rig nice and toasty Mainly bragging rights.

My next upgrade will be after dual core and windows64 have been fully implemented and software developers have responded with applications that utilize this new technology. By then the next gen GPU should be out, and I can pick up a pair of 6800gts on ebay for $50 each and finally hit 10,000 in 3dm05

 

[ribbon13]

Given the heat dissapation of the dual core opterons, your heater observation must be reserved for Intel. And half speed? WTF? Maybe if you consider a dual core opteron running at 2.0ghz a 4.0ghz machine. Desktop users that multitask WILL notice a difference with multiprocessors, because it will be faster. How about those encoders out there? Come on now. Encode a xvid and play a game at the same time? =)

 

[Demo24]

Originally posted by: dababus
what would be the power requirements, since its a dual core.

its actually not to bad. I belive Anand posted them sometime but I cant remeber what it was called or when

 

[ACE76]

I can't be sure if this is true, but it has been said that AMD WANTS their dual-core solution to be socket 939 compatible initially for stiffer competition with Intel's dual-core offering (spend money only on the CPU and not a motherboard + memory). Maximum PC magazine has reiterated this information in a recent issue.

 

[ribbon13]

The big difference between the two (939 and 940) is Registered/ECC memory and L2 size, so that shouldn't be that big of a deal.

 

[ribbon13]

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_608,00.html

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Given the heat dissapation of the dual core opterons, your heater observation must be reserved for Intel. And half speed? WTF? Maybe if you consider a dual core opteron running at 2.0ghz a 4.0ghz machine. Desktop users that multitask WILL notice a difference with multiprocessors, because it will be faster. How about those encoders out there? Come on now. Encode a xvid and play a game at the same time? =)

On the heater comment I was talking about 2x video cards, guess I didn't make that very clear. And I agree multiprocessors will definately help in multitasking(as long as your OS will support it) . And yes I would consider a dual 2.0ghz a 4.0ghz(effective) machine, if dual processors didn't double your speed/performance whats the use? And if playing a game, encoding a vid, and burning a CD all at one time are important to you then multi-core should be on your wish list. For me it's not important enough to justify an upgrade.

 

[ribbon13]

Would two diesel engines in a tractor trailed double its speed (think mhz) or carrying capacity (vs work done)

Your right in the whole point is amount done, but it's not a doubling of speed. Guess it's just the way you look at it.