phantommenace2

I want to upgrade my nearly 2 year old system and I was all set to go with one of Intel's new 45nm CPU's (either dual or quad core) but want to know people's opinion/impressions on the Phenom 9600/9700...is it a worthwhile investment?...and yes I know all about the errata bug that is present all these CPU's with the B2 revision

but knowing this I am still tempted to get one because the prices are so cheap...this is a true quad core design and honestly I don't think this errata bug will affect 99.8% of users so I don't think I'll ever run into any issues from it...they also say that performance is on par with Intel's Q6600...I also don't want to spend a fortune on Intel's QX9650 and this also allows me to spend the extra $$$ on the video card or another component...plus I can always get the 9600 now and later on down the road possibly upgrade to the new B3 revision or 45nm chips at the end of the year

the Spider platform really is pretty good architecurtally and definitely has potential

do you think this is a good way to go?

Mousey

Who says you have to buy a QX9650? Most dual core alternatives from intel still stomp all over the quad core phenoms y'know. Quad core is still "voodoo" with not many desktop applications actually being able to make use of all 4 cores. unless you need SERIOUS rendering grunt for Cinema4D or 3DSMax ect it's not worth it.
There's still aren't many applications that take full advantage of 2 cores.

Going AMD at this point is basically taking the largest, sharpest object you can find and shoving it right up your arse, go intel, be smart.

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ChaosMinionX

Currently Phenom is not the way to go for a normal desktop, although Phenom has showed promise in the server market with some applications being faster than Core2 architecture, mainly with programs that need large amounts of bandwidth, Phenoms IMC (integrated memory controller) gives it an edge over Core2 in memory throughput.

I would strongly recommend you go with Intel, either Q6600.... or if you dont want a quad, pickup any of the E8000 series (penryn based) dual cores that came out, you could always wait for March if you want a Q9450/9550 and dont wanna blow a $1000 on a QX9650. (although if you going to overclock the Q9450 has an 8x multi, Q9550 has a 8.5x multi, and QX9650 has an unlocked multi) It should be noted as well, that for the gain of .5x on a multi, your paying about $230-300USD for that gain, which may or may not yield a better clock, it would depend on your system.

As far as Spider platform goes? Its a great concept, I just dont think the performance is there, considering you can Crossfire on non AMD stuff, like Intel's X38 and X48, and P35 and the upcoming P45.... there really isnt any reason to use an all AMD platform.

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phantommenace2

yeah I was pretty much thinking the same thing but I thought the price/performance ratio of the Phenom 9600 might be worth taking a chance on...especially if I can just change out the CPU when the new B3 revisions or 45nm chips come out

any idea when in March the Q9450 will be released?

smurfdude

surely just getting a Q6600 and overclocking it (they all OC very well) is the best processor out there for price to performance ratio? i'd never consider a phenom

I upgraded from a processor similar to yours (AMD 3500) and the difference is huge

Zelig

For reference, the Phenom at 2.7 GHz is about equal in performance to the Core 2 Quad at 2.4 GHz.

So it's not a huge difference if not overclocking on either platform, a Phenom 9600 gets an equal price/performance ratio if it's about 15-20% cheaper than the Q6600.

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ChaosMinionX

Thats true, but Intel is extremely easy to get a good OC out of

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smurfdude

So easy even a newbie like me who had never overclocked before got it working at 3.2ghz the very first try. could push it even higher if i wanted

ChaosMinionX

Yep

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