Athlon 64FX

[aznx]

yay only about a week to go!

[Mr.Tweak]

OK, I'll take your word for it. I have a vague recollection about reading something about this. The problem is that there tends to be a fair amount of misinformation on any kind of system prior to its official release. Manufacturers sometimes make last minute changes to the production model so we get all screwed up.

I've seen it for myself, you can believe me mate ;)

[Mr.Tweak]

yay only about a week to go!

Yep! :woot:

[E^vol]

As for available speeds, the naming of the processors and the future of the Athlon 64, nothing yet is officially known, but there is a considerable amount of information out there, the consensus of which is:

The Athlon 64 will be initially available in a 754-pin, single channel memory model clocked at 2.0GHz and named the Athlon 64 3200+ and a 940-pin (identical to the Opteron) dual-channel memory model clocked at 2.2Ghz and named, oddly enough, the Athlon FX-51.

As you can see, the resemblance of the rumored 'FX' Athlon 64 to the Opteron processor is striking.

The Athlon FX is not supposed to be multi-processor compatible, but opinions are divided as to whether this is an actual rebranded Opteron processor... More likely, the Athlon FX is simply an Athlon 64 chip which passed all the tests well enough to meet the elevated requirements of processor and system bandwidth. We will have to wait for the release date to find out for sure.

PCStats

[Wiggo]

The Athlon FX is a 939pin version of the 940pin Opteron, the missin' pin removes the SMP support from the CPU.

[Soulburner]

The high end FX IS essentially an Opteron minus 1 pin (the one that allows dual processor use) putting it at 939. It should be a good deal faster than the 64 because it allows dual channel memory, which hopefully actually does something on these new AMDs.

[amd_man2005]

Its almost time guys, lock your doors and call in sick on Monday! :laugh: :cheers:

[E^vol]

So for gaming...Which of the three CPU's would be better ? The FX ? (faster than the 64, games don't use dual cpu setups ?)

[JSR]

the a643200+ is single channel and costs quite a bit less than the fx which is dual channel.......they're already selling the a64 combo w/msi mobo in my neighborhood for 540 and on pricewatch..........the fx will most likely be in the 700's for just the processor........the performance diff just isn't quite there to go for the fx http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardwa...on_fx_preview/

[Soulburner]

Lots of A64 info here and some benchmarks:

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/articles.hwz?cid=2&aid=856

[JSR]

at the a64 3200 combo..............for if this thing can fly w/ the fx/ee............@540 incl. mobo, no special ram, wtf...........otherwise a jump in time and money w/ the dual channel 939/ q1 2004

[Soulburner]

Going A64 rapes all your life savings. First, you have to buy registered ECC DIMMs which are expensive, slow, and hard to find. Second, they are going to up and change the socket and everyting on you, making upgrades impossible. Third, since the memory controller is a part of the processor, chipset makers like Nvidia will no longer control industry memory upgrades. If new RAM comes out (DDR2 anyone?) and you want to upgrade, you can't just buy a new motherboard, you have to buy a new processor as well. And the RAM. And at those prices, you really get screwed.

[JSR]

for the fx, yes....not the a64 3200

[theyneverknew]

NOte I am speculating about this but maybe you would only need a new CPU to use new RAM with the A64 assuming the DIMM's for DDR2 use the same form factor you might only need to get a new cpu with a new memory controller :confused: That'd be pretty cool actually :cheers:

[amd_man2005]

NOte I am speculating about this but maybe you would only need a new CPU to use new RAM with the A64 assuming the DIMM's for DDR2 use the same form factor you might only need to get a new cpu with a new memory controller :confused: That'd be pretty cool actually :cheers:

Voltage Requirements could be differnet