Will AMD's Athlon64 Debut this month?

[Dracas]

It just might! Read all about it over at AMDBoard.com's (http://www.amdboard.com/hn03130301.html) website.

It seems AMD has in fact decided to stick with the PR rating system for their new line of Athlon Processors. Athlon64 3200+, Athlon64 3400+, and Athlon64 3600+ might soon be released on this the Sixth month of 2003, whereas the 3800+ may be looking at a release later this year in September.

Speculating a bit on wether or not this is true...I suppose its entirely possible. AMD may try to take advantage of the product gap with intel's latest processors and "leap ahead" (so to speak) and secure a new grip on the market.

Its also speculated that the Athlon64 3200+ actually outperforms the Athlon XP 3200+ Barton due to the new core being used.

So is the clawhammer finally within our reach? Maybe, keep your eyes peeled, you may see them on the shelves as soon as the end of the week.

Who knows, it'd certainly make my system planning easier! :t :D

Comments? Feel free :)

[AllGamer]

even if it's out now, i'll wait a little and let it Mature a bit ;)

i've jumped into the Brand new in the block way too many times :D

now i rather be late, but know and hear of any bugs before i put money on it ;)

:t

besides my current system is just barely over a year old, nah too soon for an upgrade.

but i do need some replacement for the 2 old PII- 300 Mhz

gosh i can barely stand those :x

[ESHAW]

:t From what I have been reading they will be 100% compatabble with 32 or 64 bit app's because of their architecture supposedly much more so than Intel. AMD also claims there will be a boost to the way 32 bit app's work on the clawhammer. Microsoft is also supposedly set to release 64 bit xp and 2003 advanced server in 64 bit this year but I read that both are still in beta testing so who know's it may not be long now. I myself will wait a while to see if there are any problems or not.:D

[Slade54]

It would help them a great deal if they were able to release it so soon.

But knowing how long its taken them t get their newer processors out, im def not holding my breath.

Once i see the benchmarks all over the 'net, then ill be happy.

And i am in desperate need of an upgrade.........

[Dracas]

You too huh?

I'm...considering...an Asus SK8N (nVidia K8 Crush nForce3) mainboard coupled with an Athlon 64 3400+ as my next upgrade, hopefully I'll have more luck with the SK8N then I did with the A7N8X.

at this point, I don't see the point in wasting beau coup bucks on a replacement mainbaord and a Barton 3200+ when for less $$$ I can just get the 3400+ and a decent mainboard when they hit the market.

Most of the Barton 3200+'s $$$$ is cache in the bank. Literally.

[JCB]

I predicted a June release... so they can't be coming out now. :p

Everybody's been so long waiting on these **** things, that nobody cares anymore.

Is Windows ready? Are the mobo manufacturers ready? Is AMD ready? Are you ready?

I'm not sure that I'll care at all, if they don't overclock. With the onboard memory controller it may be difficult if not impossible. Overclocking is half the fun for me. And I'd hate to be forced into going back to intel.:confused:

[Dracas]

Originally posted by JCB
I'm not sure that I'll care at all, if they don't overclock. With the onboard memory controller it may be difficult if not impossible. Overclocking is half the fun for me. And I'd hate to be forced into going back to intel.:confused:


Think of it this way...since the memory controller is part of the main processors now, any FSB adjustment you make will effect the FSB of the Processor core and the FSB of the memory controller too. AMD Opteron/Athlon64 processors were ment to be 'scalable' by every sense of the word, so where'ever the RAM FSB goes, the Processor core is hot on its heels, and so long as everythings pin compatible and electrically sound, you can get newer/better ram probably up to whatever flavor you like, be it 433Mhz, 466Mhz, etc.. etc.. So I don't see why overclocking would be out of the question.

That and I heard from a little bird that the multipliers won't be locked.

We'll just have to wait and see :)

[stix_kua]

Originally posted by JCB
And I'd hate to be forced into going back to intel.:confused:

Please do remeber that Intel is becoming less overclock-freindly...:t

[stix_kua]

Does anyone know the speeds (GHz) of these new beasts....

The last I saw, The Athlon XP Barton 3200 or 3000 was only at 2.16Ghz....

AMD isn't closing up the gap...the MHz myth is becoming more and more truthful...

I really don't see why AMD cannot match their numerical conuterparts(Intel).

I mean doesn't Intel have like 23 pipeline stages (this helps with the high clock frequency) and AMD has like 12 or so?

Just slap on a few more stages...:p

[Slade54]

The number of pipe-lines are different approaches to cpu design.

Intel when for lots of pipe-lines for lots of MHz which equals more work done.

AMD went for less pipe-lines for less MHz but more efficent clock cycles (does more with less)

Each has drawbacks, and advatages.

Neither is really better or worse then the other, they are just different ways of acomplishing the same task.

[Rugor]

If the Athlon64 comes out soon it will put a big dent in Intel's thunder.

If nothing else it should end up scaling higher than previous cores, as well as having a better IPC.

It could well put AMD back in the race if not ahead.

Plus it would lead to massive price drops on Athlons which would be good for everyone.

[Disk11]

Please do remeber that Intel is becoming less overclock-freindly...

Are you kidding me? Have you seen results of overclocking the 2.4C? Various places are reaching 3 ghz easy, 3.4 in some cases.

[Dracas]

Yes, but Intels next-stage Processors are setup to prevent 'vendor's from Overclocking Intel processors to sell them for more money using a lower-grade of chip and 'impersonating' the higher performance processors'. Unfortuneately, this also prevents End-Users from overclocking.

Expect the FSB to be locked now, along with the multiplier. Intel recently patented the new Anti-OC'ing technology and will implement it soon. There was a blurb in Sysopts News block about this not to long ago

[Slade54]

Yea, there was alot of hurrah about that OC patent. But that patent was pretty old by time it passed, that ppl are skeptical that it will ever be used.

And Intel has always had a stance on overclocking. Thats why most of their chipsets arent the most overclocker friendly, until recently anyways. Usually other chipsets supporting Intel were better for overclocking.

[Rugor]

Intel makes more money from OEMs than overclockers.

If they're asked to choose between the two it's a no-brainer. The overclockers lose.

It's got everything to do with economics.

[Dracas]

Leave it to Rugor to 'tell it like it is'. Intel wasn't ever an enthusiast market to begin with. Once Intel took over most of the market, AMD had to make up lost ground somehow, so they turned a 'design flaw' into an 'enthusiasts dream'. AMD likely didn't figure the gold fingers and bridges were initially gonna be fiddled with, but when they saw that people actually LIKED this funky overclocking thing, they made some 'small yet conservative' concessions to the CPU overclocking enthusiasts by leaving their CPU's defenseless against us mean old overclockers :D

[causticVapor]

Intel's multiplier locks must be burnt into the microcircuitry of the CPU core, or somehow manipulated in a hidden PCB layer in the package. Unfortunately, no one has been willing to tear apart a processor to see if the second possibilty is true.

That being said, there is no reason for intel not to clock-lock every part of their CPU and prevent anyone from changing the speeds. Until now, they have left the FSB open either for no real reason, or to facilitate FSB remarking (I.E. good 2.4B C1's become 2.4C C1's, etc.)

All I can say is that I hope intel will not FSB lock the CPUs, but there really isn't a reason for them not to if it does not inconvenience them.