Pre-order a Phenom II X6 @ Fry's

[jvroig]

I hope this is more on topic.

If it is indeed true that HT is 2.4 (I have no knowledge of the veracity of this information, to me it is just something I have heard/read), then CPU-NB must also be at least 2.4. If the CPU-NB is 20% better than the current Phenom II chips, then simply clock for clock what is the general advantage of this? Is it within 10%? (EDIT: To put it in more specific context, let us assume a gaming scenario... will a 20% increase in CPU-NB net you 5-10% better FPS? In a non-gaming scenario, has anyone noticed if this affects some common tasks like archiving and extracting of compressed files?)

Also, for a chip that seems to be in an official review pretty soon, there seems to be a drought of info on it, at least for me, but it is completely possible I am merely not industrious enough. I cannot seem to find anything except that it will be a Phenom II X6, the codes, and some turbo feature. Is it really a Deneb + 2, or is it more of an "Istanbul-desktop version" or even "1/2 Magny Cours"? What they did with Magny Cours is amazing, 12 cores on a very reasonable TDP, running at respectable speeds. If they can make a huge chip with 12 cores that runs at 2.6GHz (? Not sure) and rated at 125W TDP, I have little trouble believing that they can cut that in half and make it run to 3.4GHz, and turbo it to speeds beyond that when only 3 cores are active.

 

[formulav8]

I do know in some gaming and rendering situations that going from 1410mhz nb to a 2820mhz northbridge on a Non-Cached NB the gain is about 7%-10% with a peak around 15%. The averages being about 4%-6%. I basically have the full review done. This was done using a Sempron II 140 unlocked to a Athlon II 4400e @ 3.8ghz

So taking a Cached NB from 2ghz to 2.4ghz you may get 5% in certain gaming and rendering situations.

I'm also trying to finish up testing a Phenom1 based 7550 DualCore @ 3Ghz going from 1440mhz nb to a 2160mhz nb which has 2MB of L3 cache. There are some decent gains so far in a few area's. I'm sure a 3x-4x core cpu will respond much more to faster cache and memory controller speeds than a dual core.


Jason

 

[jvroig]

This techPowerUp article is used as a reference to say that the Thubans unfortunately only have the same old 2.0 GHz HT. I see no reference in the pictures (which are 1 year-old slides, dated March 2009), perhaps someone more knowledgeable can say whether techPowerUp interpreted the data correctly from the slides.

EDIT: I reviewed the Phenom II X4 official specs here. It also says seems to indicate the maximum CPU bandwidth of 37GB/s and 4.0GT/s I/O bus speed as Thuban in the slides. I guess this means same 2.0 GHz HT for Thuban, assuming the techPowerUp article is correct?

 

[DrMrLordX]

Keep in mind, the HT speed must be equal to or less than the NB speed.

You can't have a 2 ghz NB with 2.4 ghz HT, but you CAN have 2 ghz HT and a 2.4 ghz NB.

So . . . knowing the HT speed is 2 ghz only tells us the minimum speed the NB could be. Still, chances are that they will be balanced.

 

[formulav8]

I don't see it being a higher nb speed to be honest. I'm not sure if AMD would risk yields for up to only a 5% increase in performance. Hopefully i'm wrong though as every little bit helps.


Jason

 

[jvroig]

Still, chances are that they will be balanced.

I don't see it being a higher nb speed to be honest.

Agree and agree. The only basis for expecting higher NB speeds was "wikipedia", which now has been sanely edited and referred to the techPowerUp article, bringing back HT to 2.0, therefore most likely also the CPU NB along with it.

Although, AMD did have a history of increasing the NB speed in the Phenom II series (if I'm not mistaken)... didn't the first Phenom II chips (920 / 940) only have a 1.8GHz uncore? Then when the AM3 Phenom II chips came in, uncore became 2GHz. I could be wrong, but off the top of my head that is what I seem to remember.

 

[formulav8]

The original Phenom1's had 1.8ghz uncores. Then AMD bumped the newer Phenom1 9850/9950 to 2ghz.

The PII based AM2/AM2+ only 5000+ x2 (2.2ghz core) had a uncore at 1.6ghz. The original AM2/AM2+ only PII x4 920/940 had a 1.8ghz uncore.

AMD bumped up the uncore to 2ghz with the AM3 PII line.

I think thats correct?


Jason

 

[LoneNinja]

The original Phenom1's had 1.8ghz uncores. Then AMD bumped the newer Phenom1 9850/9950 to 2ghz.

The PII based AM2/AM2+ only 5000+ x2 (2.2ghz core) had a uncore at 1.6ghz. The original AM2/AM2+ only PII x4 920/940 had a 1.8ghz uncore.

AMD bumped up the uncore to 2ghz with the AM3 PII line.

I think thats correct?


Jason

For the most part sounds correct. I know my X2 7750 ran at 1.8Ghz, Phenom 9850 2.0Ghz, and Athlon II X4 630 at 2.0Ghz, oddly my 940 runs at 1.6Ghz default. I think it's suppose to be 1.8 though.

 

[lopri]

They are packing 2 more cores at the same thermal budget.. I see zero chance of faster NB.

 

[thilanliyan]

Ooh, I am about a week from Ordering AMD Phenom II X4 945 C2 Quad Core Processor AM3 3.0GHZ 8MB Cache 95W,

at $175.15CDN. If the cheapest X6 is close in Price, I just might wait. Sure is tempting.

Why buy that when you can buy the 955 cheaper?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...AMD-_-19103808

Just get NCIX to pricematch it. NCIX prices are pretty bad most of the time. Their sale prices are higher than a lot of other places' regular prices. Always use this to check for the lowest price:
http://www.shopbot.ca/default.asp?kw=amd+955&position=search