Thread: AMD Phenom II : A smarter choice ?

I have posted many links to many reviews on the latest phenoms. A few have taken a look. For those who dont wanna look at those endles numbers, here is my view on AMD's latest line up.


For the past month many of us have been saying "Plz do not upgrade", thats simply because of the newer products coming out and the price cuts.

Well, AMD is releasig their AM3 Processors soon. Many may say that i can get a i7 for 16K(approx same price as P2), which is faster too, y go for a phenom 2 ?
well, if money not a factor for u, buy an i7 and read the next thread, this is not 4 u. As we know that the costs of DDR3 memory is very high right now. Its latencies are high too. They will reduce as time passes by.

The AMD phenom 2 AM3 (not AM2+) processors support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory. So, u can use the latest line up of processors on ur AM2(some, with new bios) and AM2+(all, many require a bios flash) motherboards. And also AM3 motherboards. U can use Dirt cheap DDR2 memory now, and after 1 year or so,when DDR3 is cheaper, use the same processor with DDR3(with new mobo).

Now u may say the new mobo will end up making the cost the same. Here is a solution to that too.
Asus and gigabyte are going to release motherboards that support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory on the same mobo(like Asus P5kc for the core2). So its a lot easier to upgrade to the new memory standard.

An AMD build is going to be a lot cheaper than an i7.

For those who still did not understand what i said, its like putting an i7 on ur old LGA775 with DDR3 and DDR2 support(on those combo mobo's, like Asus p5kc).

Also, AMD Phenom II have a type of processors known as "black edition processors". They are basically the same processors, but with an unlocked multiplier. So, it is a lot more easier to OC ur processors. If u do not want to OC, save ur money and do not buy one of these.


Intel fanboys may say that the i7 is faster, AMD SSSUUUUUXXXXSSSSSSSSS. But hey, we want competition not domination. This is the first time after the release of the core2's that AMD has provided something really competitive.Atleast it provided us with moe choices against the core2. This could be the end to Intel's domination in the market, which in turn is good for us. Makes things more cheaper and newer faster processors are intoduced.

So, what do u think, is AMD Phenom 2 is a smarter choice ?

good choice or bad choice....dont know.but i am sure that the competition between amd and intel will make computing better and cheap.just like whats happening with ati and nvidia.

I agree that the Phenom 2 is a better choice for people with a Budget or who are facing the Price Vs Performance dilemma.

However, for pure performance get the i7, the Phenom has so far not been able to come close to the kind of power demonstrated by a Core i7 without overclocking.

I also agree with you regarding the cost factor of the X58 chipset and the DDR3 memory and the advantage of the AMD processors having the backward compatibility with chipsets and sockets reducing costs.

Will suggest that anyone interested in buying a processor hold on for some time. Phenom/Intel prices will drop very soon.

More competition will be good for the end users-thats us!!

But I wish AMD puts up a stronger fight. I mean AMD has just reached 45nm whereas Intel is probably putting finishing touches on the new 32nm processor

i dont get it y there is a need to compare the Phenom 2 to the core i7 ??
The phenom 2 is not meant to be compared to the i7.
In sept Intel may release P55 chipsets(Not confirmed). That will make the i7 system a lot cheaper, then AMD should either introduce a Faster processor to compete with i7 or cut their prices heavily. There are talks abt a Phenom 2 @3.5Ghz stock. There is no need to compete with the i7 965 right ?
What ever they do, it will be good 4 us !!

Originally Posted by pumbaa_g

But I wish AMD puts up a stronger fight. I mean AMD has just reached 45nm whereas Intel is probably putting finishing touches on the new 32nm processor

Finishing touch ??? As far as i know we are atleast 1 year away frm 32nm(Clarkdale is the name i think), these are dual core ones.
Plz post more news on 32nm(new thread).

All I am saying is that at this point of time Core i7 920 costs me 16k which is steep but still not too bad. What hurts is the cost of X58 and DDR3 which is equally expensive. Phenom retails for around 14k for black edition but scores more overall due to the lower cost associated with DDR2 and AM2 motherboard.

Looking at performance the Phenom 2 X4 940 fares between Core2Duo E8200 2.66 Ghz and Core2Quad Q9400 2.66 Ghz

Same with Phenom 2 X4 9950BE 2.6 Ghz which is placed between Core2Quad Q6600 2.40 Ghz and Core2Duo E7200 2.4 Ghz

I figure if I wait for another 6-8 months the price of the processor will be bumped down and DDR3 will become mainstream (read affordable). This will probably swing my vote to i7 rather then Phenom 2. Again, this is dependent on AMD not coming out with a new processor which kicks i7's ass out of the charts.

So its wait and watch....

well, i do get ur point.
But, the performance of the 940 is close to the Q9550 and that of 920 is close Q9400.

Price:
Q9550-> 18k
Q9400->16K

Prices:
Intel Processors - TechShop.in - Buy Tech Online Now!!!



Where did E8200 come frm ??? The Phenom 2 Blows that thing !!!!


Infact, if u take gaming, there is no NOTICEABLE difference in the i7 and all the Phenom 2. Can u plz give some benchmarks supporting ur views ?

There are various charts I was referring to SysMark when I made this comment. I believe there is a good article on Anandtech with these details

k updated prices are here:
TheITWares - Processors (CPU Intel , AMD)


Very good prices for the Phenom IMO.

Oh buddy u look at synthetic benchmarks...........ok then ur correct.
I usually look at gaming benchmarks and i ignore synthetic ones. Have a look at those too.

have a look at this:
AnandTech: The Phenom II X4 810 & X3 720: AMD Gets DDR3 But Doesn't Need It

excerpts of final words in this article...

I'd say what it really boils down to is who can deliver the best retail pricing on CPUs and motherboards. Overclockers will probably prefer the Intel route as both Phenom II and Core 2 can overclock to similar levels, but Core 2 is faster at the same clock speed.

Intel does have more room to drive prices down if it should so desire and perhaps it will, although I do worry about what will happen to AMD's Phenom II strategy when Core i5 arrives later this year. While Phenom II is competitive with Core 2, remember that it's an old architecture now.

core i5..... Hmmmm.... will be nice for us. But i hope its released along with the P55. I Guess its gonna be as fast a core 2. But cant say anything.
But really, the kind of peformance jump see frm Phenom to Phenom 2 looks a lot more significant frm that of Core2 to i7.

I believe the actual performance jump between Core2Duo and i7 was around 25%

This is pretty much unheard of in the IT Sector. I was hooked on this from the time it was declared and when it was launched it seemed like a mind boggling feat.

Phenom to Phenom 2 seems more due to the TLD bug which kind of crashed the Phenom from the launch

Originally Posted by pumbaa_g

Phenom to Phenom 2 seems more due to the TLD bug which kind of crashed the Phenom from the launch

Now w8 a sec u mean 25% clock to clock right ???
If u compare a Q9650 or Q9550 with a i7 920, u barely have any performance difference in games.

In fact, almost all the newer processors have almost the same performance in most games at higher setting. Those settings are more practiacl. I mean y will u play crysis on Low settings on an i7 ???


Also, the B3 stepping of the phenom did not have the TLD bug. Still, the phenom 2 is Significanlty faster and consumes almost 40% less power.

Games are never the true indicator of the processor's capability as the game performance is directly dependent on the Video capability...

Individually the results of the performance improvements from Core2Duo and Quad processors (barring Extreme series) was 25%

Moreover power consumption on idle is what you are referring to, on normal or high load the Phenom 2 is pretty much at par with the i7 or quad...

what u have said is true.
But most of the ppl asking for a new rig here are looking at gaming only.
Also, i was comparing Phenom 2 power consumption with older phenoms, not core2 and i7.