OT: 9-23-2003 AMD Unveils Athlon 64

[dmcowen674]

AMD Unveils Athlon 64, Seen as Head Start Vs Intel

The new chip, which will be marketed first to hard-core gamers and scientists and engineers.

With the launch, "AMD is on top of the mountain and we're dropping a snowball down the hill"

In a pre-emptive strike, Intel said last week it has developed a new processor with extra memory, called Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, that is targeted at gamers and will be available in a month or two.

But AMD still has the upper-hand since Microsoft has said it will deliver a version of Windows to run on AMD's 64-bit processor. Intel will either have to adopt AMD's architecture or develop their own and convince Microsoft to enable Windows to work on its 64-bit PC chip as well, analysts said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congrats to all that stuck by "The Competition".

 

[Swanny]

I thought the launch date was the 27th

EDIT: Nevermind, I had my dates wrong.

/me hits himself with keyboard

 

[lobadobadingdong]

yep, tomorrow is the big day.....but when is windows 64 supposed to be hitting the shelves? I won't be upgrading for a while, but I do sell pc's and won't suggest someone to buy the athlon64 until a solid micro$oft os will support all it's functions.

 

[Crazee]

I would still recommend the Athlon 64 because it will run 32 bit windows and apps natively and when they are ready with Windows64 and 64 bit games they can upgrade then.

 

[dxkj]

do we have any clues on how this will perform?

 

[ProviaFan]

Dual Opterons purchase I must, when enough money I have.

 

[Soggysocks]

"money I have " is the issue on both sides of the house

 

[bot2600]

I love AMD to death, but I think Intel is killing them in the single CPU arena right now. Here is a comparison of the Opteron, Athlon 64, and some Intel chippies including the new Extreme Edition. http://www.x86-secret.com/popups/articleswindow.php?id=91 found the link on [ H ]

 

[dxkj]

/shrug

Not to me they arent. I can buy a 2500+ for 84 dollars, and OC it to a 3500+ rating..... to match that the pentium 3.2ghz costs 600? (sorry i dont know overclocking factors on pentiums) Even if you got a P4 2ghz and Oc it to 3.2ghz, those still cost 2x as much as the AMD.


/shrug

 

[Assimilator1]

Originally posted by: bot2600
I love AMD to death, but I think Intel is killing them in the single CPU arena right now. Here is a comparison of the Opteron, Athlon 64, and some Intel chippies including the new Extreme Edition. http://www.x86-secret.com/popups/articleswindow.php?id=91 found the link on [ H ]

Nah ,not at low to mid range CPUs anyway ,just look at the prices.
Wouldn't argue at the high end though

[edit]can't read French very well

 

[m2kewl]

Originally posted by: jliechty
Dual Opterons purchase I must, when enough money I have.

what said he! what said he!!

 

[Joe O]

Here is a very well written, balanced comparison of the following five CPUs:

The Combatants:

AMD Athlon 64 FX-51: AMD's top-of-the-line ultra-enthusiast part, it'll have to turn in some excellent numbers to justify its $800+ purchase price. AMD has promised immediate availability of the CPU, though obviously they won't be shipping all that many. Built on Socket 940 and with a 128-bit wide memory channel, Athlon 64 FX-51 is the uppercut AMD hopes will catch Intel unawares.

AMD Athlon 64: AMD's "mainstream" Socket 754 part, its caught flak ever since the FX-51 was released. AMD's decision not to sample the CPU for launch didn't help either, though some reviewers (including ourselves) were able to acquire CPU's through alternate means. With an introductory price of around $400 Athlon 64 is substantially cheaper than FX-51, but consumers will erupt if they feel AMD launched the FX-51 to cover mediocre performance on the part of Athlon 64. In order to avoid allegations of benchmark-jacking, AMD's new product lines will have to have "fabulous" and "very good" performance respectively, rather then the "good" and "Ok" ratings that might normally apply in a budget product.

AMD "Barton" 3200+: AMD's former flagship and K7 magnum opus rounds out the AMD side of our review. The AthlonXP line still offers a much better price / performance ratio when compared to Intel's Celeron and AMD intends to keep AthlonXP around for at least the next few months. Hammer may de-throne Barton from its position at the top of AMD's line-up, but K7 itself is far from out of the picture.

And, in the blue corner?.

Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz "Extreme Edition": With its massive 2 meg L3 cache, the P4 EE is the P4 3.2 on steroids and the War Admiral to AMD's Sea Biscuit. Intel is obviously armed for bear with the P4EE; can the Xeon's L3 cache take the fire out of AMD's new launch?

Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz: Prior to the launch of the P4EE this was Intel's highest-end P4 and the chip slated for head-to-head combat with the Athlon FX-51. Even after the EE stole much of its spotlight, the P4 3.2 is still the highest-end chip that'll be mass-produced on the Intel side, just as the Socket 754 Athlon 64 is the highest-end mass-produced chip from AMD. Ultimately, the 64 vs. 3.2 will be just as much of a match to watch as the FX-51 vs. the EE.

Now that we've identified the dramatis personae, let's see some numbers.