Which do think will be better? From what it looks like, AMD is in trouble. The bench marks on the AM2 are only 5-10% better than the k8 core.

Conroe ftw.

AMD know's a lot of their market share comes from individual system builders who just want the fastest available. I'm sure AMD has an ace up their sleave as always.

I use to like Intel, until I built an X-2 based system. P4's were power hogs, space heaters. My overclocked, aircooled 4800 X-2 is a fast, cool running puppy, it runs great. My vote, and money is on AMD.

So far it seems AM2 isn't going to be AMD's saving grace. People are now looking onto K8L (I don't even know what this is, I assume a dicking around with the CPU architecture).

Conroe is going to own. Hard.

Posted by Particle Man So far it seems AM2 isn't going to be AMD's saving grace. People are now looking onto K8L (I don't even know what this is, I assume a dicking around with the CPU architecture). Conroe is going to own. Hard.

Yeah I still haven't seen power consumption specs for the new intel CPUs. I for one am tired of running Intel space heaters in the summer! When I compare my P4 3.2 GHz to my overclocked 4800 X-2 I get disguised, it's that much better. The Xeon nocona's were hot running flops too. I don't have much faith in Intel, for now.

all i know is my server room is kept warm by 3 proliants with 3 cpus each, if they can get a cooler running cpu ill take it

The power consumption issued should be at least lessened. I think the Conroe's will be 65nm, and will operate at generally lower frequencies than the Pentium 4's did. I do think I read something about lower power consumption/lower heat dissipation. If I find it, I'll post it.

whatever my A64 3200+ still holds strong, i wont need to upgrade any time soon i dont think. I will always be a fan of AMD, although my dad just bought a pentium D and its pretty cool, i like how easily you can muiltitask with it.

I did read the Tom's hardware review on the Conroe and it looks like it will hold the best CPU for a while. However it most likely won't be long until AMD takes the lead again.

Posted by Kenshin I did read the Tom's hardware review on the Conroe and it looks like it will hold the best CPU for a while. However it most likely won't be long until AMD takes the lead again.

Yeah, there was an interesting article on slashdot yesterday about the two and apparently a $180 dollar conroe just blew the FX-62 out of the water. It's going to be interesting to see if AMD is holding something back or if they utterly went the wrong direction with the AM2. \

-Sinister Crayon _{is now going to bed.}

"Details released to OEMs suggest that AMDs upcoming AM3-based CPUs will both fit into and work with motherboards using the existing AM2 socket. This is good news for users that have motherboards supporting the AM2 socket because they will be able to switch to AM3 CPUs without having to upgrade the rest of the hardware." AM3 will support DDR3

"Socket AM2 is a definite go, and Socket AM3 is the likely follow-up and should not come too late in the game. AMD is reportedly able to release K8L on 90 nm if it has to, but it's waiting for 65 nm to allow it to really shine. We'll see virtualization and security features with Socket AM2 products, allowing a more rounded and comprehensive computing experience. And with AMD's licensing of Z-RAM we could be seeing some major caching architecture changes in future AMD products. "

Its obvious AMD is planning something.

So. Conroe has gone to reviewers and the results are in:

The X6800 (Core Extreme) completely smashes anything AMD has to offer. The E6600 (Core 2 Duo) priced around $300 US meets and exceeds the performance of AMD's Athlon64 FX-62 at more than $1000.

The E6400 and E6300 (Core2 Duo) operate somewhere between the 4200+ and 5000+ Athlon64 X2. With an easy overclock to 2.8Ghz, performance surpasses the Athlon64 FX-62. That's $1000 performance from a $200 CPU.

Here's an anandtech article on overclocking the E6300 and 6400:

http://www.anandte...howdoc.aspx?i=2802

Apparently Core 2 Duo is hitting the shelves sometime at the end of this month, or the start of next. Many sites are already taking pre-orders.

A little tid bit.
"Unfortunately the performance per watt of a processor tends to vary significantly as the processor is used more or less. Intel is measuring it's processors at full load, something very rarely seen by a processor, with encouraging results. AMD, on the other hand, says a more natural system for measuring performance should be tried.

Already the battle has begun, Intel claiming that its new server processor, Woodcrest, has overtaken AMD in terms of performance per watt, but AMD disagrees. "

Posted by Crazydeep74 "Intel is measuring it's processors at full load, something very rarely seen by a processor, with encouraging results. AMD, on the other hand, says a more natural system for measuring performance should be tried.

These tests are being run by third parties using the exact same programs to avoid any possibility of the test being inaccurate. Therefore the Conroe will be a better processor when it is shipped. 'nuff said.

The Conroe is the success story of restructuring the core will the AM2 is the exact opposite. End of discussion. For AMD, the AM3 is basically sink or swim for them. But we won't know until sometime around Q4 2007 (which means next [processor] upgrade for me will probably Q2 2008 (unless the 939 FX-57 drops a few hundred dollars)).

So it might be back to intel for me....

EDIT: or, after looking into things, I could probably OC my 3700+ to FX-57 speeds. But should I get an aftermarket heatsink?

Yes. Slap a thermalright XP-90c on it, then OC. I wouldn't do an OC on the stock heatsink/fan.

If you OC it to FX-62 it should hold you until the holidays when the Conroe prices flatten out a bit and the chipset(s) get optimized and a larger variety of boards are available.

Posted by Sinister Crayon These tests are being run by third parties using the exact same programs to avoid any possibility of the test being inaccurate. Therefore the Conroe will be a better processor when it is shipped. 'nuff said. The Conroe is the success story of restructuring the core will the AM2 is the exact opposite. End of discussion. For AMD, the AM3 is basically sink or swim for them. But we won't know until sometime around Q4 2007 (which means next [processor] upgrade for me will probably Q2 2008 (unless the 939 FX-57 drops a few hundred dollars)). So it might be back to intel for me.... EDIT: or, after looking into things, I could probably OC my 3700+ to FX-57 speeds. But should I get an aftermarket heatsink?

A after market HS is mandatory for overclocking, as well good case ventilation, and adequate cooing for the chipset.
I'm using the Aerocool GT1000 Gold Plated CPU Cooler Retailhttp://www.zipzoom...dlist=pricegrabber

It sits so the intake, outflow is vertical, in my case the PSU bottom fan, and the rear fans efficiently exhaust the waste heat. I added some plastic ducting to help direct airflow. My X-2 4800 is overclocked from 2.6 to 2.83 at maximum usage with the AMD Quiet & Cool software. Use variable OCing if possible.

I had to lapp the hell out of this cooler to get it flat for a flush fit, hell had to practically use a surface grinder on it. Not good, but 2 hours latter, perfect. It is quiet, and running at 100% usage in a 70 F room my maximum CPU temp is 127 F. It took a fair amount of trouble to prep and install it, however it works very well. Heatpipes can kick ass if designed and installed right.

I was thinking about getting one of these:



And then throw some Arctic Silver 5 on it.

Posted by Sinister Crayon I was thinking about getting one of these: And then throw some Arctic Silver 5 on it.

Make sure you have clearance. One reason I choose they Aerocool HP is I had another one in another machine, and to spite it's short comings they work well. There also relatively compact, and the exhaust heat is directional, making it ductible. Pay special attention to mounting orientation; it has to exhaust either sideways, or towards the top. It will only mount one way, usually so the air flow is on a vertical axis, but don't assume! Lapping is more important than the HS compound, I used the Arctic Silver that came with both HS, and it works nicely.

C'mon. You know thats sexy.

http://www.newegg....em=N82E16835109122

Theres also an aluminum version which doesn't really offer the same heat dissipation efficiency, however it is much lighter. Pair that up with a Panaflo 92mm fan and some AS5 and you should have no trouble hitting the 2.8 I believe it is for FX-62. You might also want to invest in a Northbridge cooler as blackhawk suggested. That thing is gonna heat up a good bit once you start bumping things up.