Intel Conroe Extreme Edition

[Asus]

Anandtech got a hold of the Extreme edition of Intel's new Conroe CPU (not out yet).
It looks like Intel will be bringing good competition to the table for the first time in 3 years.
Game benchmarks
Not quite what the first Intel run benchmarks showed. Which was a 2.66GHz conroe beating a FX60 by the same margin but benchmarking was on an Intel controlled setup. But the 2.9GHz Conroe does really really well against AMD's 2.8GHz FX. Both are dual core CPUs.
Although it looks like AMD does a lot better with memory latency and bandwidth.
FYI SYSMark is a synthetic benchmark so if you are looking for real world performance numbers, ignore this benchmark.

I believe it is set to launch at the end of July (availblility in August?). Here are some prices.
I'd expect AMD to drop prices to remain competitive. This is really good because that means faster CPUs for less money for both AMD and Intel.

Firing Squad Quake 4 benchmarks. Although at 1280x1024 4xaa 8xaf it looks like the GFX card has become a bottleneck.

 

[DreamThrall]

Wow.

 

[Garfield_]

Shit my crap, only a CPU can do 30-50% increase in FPS?

 

[Asus]

Depends what program you are running. You won't get that much if you run your game at 1280x1024 or with AA/AF like I do. Look at the FiringSquad Quake4 benchmark. Normally CPUs are benchmarked with lower game resolutions so you can see the difference and the GFX card bottleneck does not show up. Can't wait til they are released and we get the whole run down from $1000 to $200 CPUs from both AMD and Intel.
I wonder how they OC...

I'm glad they ditched Netburst. It was a dumb idea. Why couldn't they have just gone from the Pentium 3 to a heavily modified design like the Pentium M and Conroe?

 

[Garfield_]

I'm planning on getting the E6600 if they aren't too expensive by the time I plan to buy one =>

 

[DigiQ8]

Someone please tell me that my current CPU ( AMD Athlon 64 4400+ Dual Core ) will do good in the next couple years ?

 

[Asus]

Someone please tell me that my current CPU ( AMD Athlon 64 4400+ Dual Core ) will do good in the next couple years ?

It will do great. I have had an Athlon 64 3000+ with single channel memory (the old Socket 754) for a long time and I don't see a need for replacing it yet. I expect to be able to play Crysis easy.
Video cards are the hardware games really push.

 

[3ssence]

Very interesting results ! I'm quite excited at the prospect of a renewed battle for supremacy between intel and amd, means even better products for the consumer.

I may well be tempted by a conroe upon release. I bought the 64 3800+ with a view to upgrading to dual core at a later point, say a year on. The conroe looks like it could be set to take the performance crown.

However, conroe would mean ditching my motherboard, processor, and ram !! Whilst buying a high end X2 would mean none of that, so maybe i'd be best off sticking with amd for the moment.

 

[baron insig]

however, whence te amd k8l is relased tables will most liekly turn back to amd,

its goign to have all the features that make te conro more effective l3 chace, agrressive prefetch ??

cant ermberwhoe list, but it most liekly will be much faster yet again due to intels stubborness over not integrating a memory controller

pity we wont see the k8l till december at the earliest

 

[Asus]

however, whence te amd k8l is relased tables will most liekly turn back to amd,

its goign to have all the features that make te conro more effective l3 chace, agrressive prefetch ??

cant ermberwhoe list, but it most liekly will be much faster yet again due to intels stubborness over not integrating a memory controller

pity we wont see the k8l till december at the earliest

Yeah. AMD does have some things coming up that will improve their products a bit. They have not had to change the core of the Athlon64 except for speed bumps for 3 years. I don't think Intel's performance advantage will last that long. 6 months to a year before AMD may be back with the advantage.

However, conroe would mean ditching my motherboard, processor, and ram !! Whilst buying a high end X2 would mean none of that, so maybe i'd be best off sticking with amd for the moment.

I'm sure AMD will lower prices when it comes out so performance for a 400$ AMD CPU would be similar to performance of a 400$ Intel Conroe CPU.

Just don't cross compare with GHz since they are still different architectures.

 

[mr spoon]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/06/08/core_2_duo_launch - You may have to wait a bit longer yet.

 

[mrkab00m]

If it's just speed then you'd think the Pentium D's which run at stock 3.8ghz would be fantastic.

 

[3ssence]

I think everyone wised up to the Ghz isn't everything deal quite some time ago

 

[DigiQ8]

It will do great. I have had an Athlon 64 3000+ with single channel memory (the old Socket 754) for a long time and I don't see a need for replacing it yet. I expect to be able to play Crysis easy.
Video cards are the hardware games really push.

phew
Thanks !

 

[Warbie]

I'm very temtped by a 6600.

Let the benchmark wars commence!

 

[Asus]

Too bad we have a month to wait.
I'm waiting for price drops on AMD CPUs and see how similarly priced Conroe CPUs perform. I don't want to drop my DDR memory I just bought.

 

[Gunner]

Any news on these processors?

 

[Revisedsoul]

I think everyone wised up to the Ghz isn't everything deal quite some time ago

you would be suprised how many customers i get that refuse to buy anything that isnt rated 3.2 ghz or higher, call us a crappy store for having such low quality processors and goes away to another store who will run into the same problem

 

[hneaz]

i had a friend who was a dumbass cuz he said 'i want a 3.2 ghz intel cpu, not a 2.4 ghz amd cpu....its much faster...' and he ended up wasting $230 on that cpu while he could have gotten a similar performance cpu for half the price. he even spent over $200 on a Intel mobo.....

 

[Asus]

They may launch as early as mid July or as late as July 27th. Either way you might be waiting til August depending on how demand is and how many compatible motherboards are out. lol

i had a friend who was a dumbass cuz he said 'i want a 3.2 ghz intel cpu, not a 2.4 ghz amd cpu....its much faster...' and he ended up wasting $230 on that cpu while he could have gotten a similar performance cpu for half the price. he even spent over $200 on a Intel mobo.....

haha
People make poor choices for themselves because they think they have a handle on technology. How do you tell those people without making them mad and not being a pain to teach em? Guess they are just damned to not understand and making crappy choices. I'm glad I don't have anyone tech challenged making choices that would impact me.

 

[3ssence]

you would be suprised how many customers i get that refuse to buy anything that isnt rated 3.2 ghz or higher, call us a crappy store for having such low quality processors and goes away to another store who will run into the same problem

Oh dear lord !!!

/cries

/loses faith in humanity

Lol

 

[The Brick]

So far I think I'm gonna go for an E6600 when I buy my pc. Seeing that it overclocks really well (from 2.4ghz to 2.92ghz). Although I have yet to see what AMD comes up with for that price.

 

[-Psy-]

Price cuts on both AM2 and 939 Cpu's next month

 

[hneaz]

Price cuts on both AM2 and 939 Cpu's next month

Actually its next week, July 14th...

 

[Asus]

Actually its next week, July 14th...

I havn't heard any update saying AMD's price drops will be July 14th. I know it's been said Conroe's launch has been moved up though. Have to see if AMD waits til July 24 like reported earlier or if they match Conroe's early launch date.

Anyway, here are some prices for ya.
AMD
Intel

I really like that X2 4600+ price drop.
$300, that is less than the X2 4200+ is now.

 

[Fliko]

Yeah, I have the same thing happening.

My friend is bragging that he is going to get a 3.6GHz processor. I tried to explain it, but he wouldn't listen.

 

[Cole]

Do an actual performance test wit him! lol.