Non-intel benchmarks on Conroe vs AMD's AM2 FX62

[Nate Edel]

when it arrives for the intended use, I still expect mbrds to be more
expensive for that performance -- Bad Ass... oops Axe -- and right now P4
does *not* cut the mustard and Athlon64 does.

Totally depends on the individual workload on a case by case basis; since
the last price cuts the X2's are enough more expensive that I'd say in some
cases Intel is quite competitive for general use.

This is most notable for the 805, but also fairly significant for the 930
(nearly the performance of the X2 3800+, $80 cheaper) and 940 (beating the
3800+ on some benchmarks, $50 cheaper.)

 

[The little lost angel]

Hmm, so one of those early nForce4-4x "binned down" parts? I wouldn't have
bought one but I thought the word was that most would run 1Ghz HT OK, i.e.
4x multiplier in this case.

Is there any need for this "lowest possible multiplier" trickery in a
non-FSB system? The usual 200MHz base system clock in an AMD system is
just a base system clock which gets multiplied up and, though I could be
wrong -- docs are vague -- I'm pretty sure that AMD does not run the
internal North Bridge or any other part at that 200MHz base clock. The
memory clock is derived from dividing down from the CPU clock, in this case
the 2.25GHz.

I'm not too sure to be honest since I haven't really been doing any of
this overclocking thing much since years ago.

But what I gathered from him is that he's been using that system to
benchmark so at times he crank up the FSB beyond the 250Mhz and unlock
the RAM speeds beyond what he considers as stable for actual usage. So
at 4x, the HT actually goes beyond 1000Mhz when he goes to 260~270
range. As for the lowest multiplier, I think it might just be a left
over from his tests to drive as high a memory clock as possible.

 

[George Macdonald]

Totally depends on the individual workload on a case by case basis; since
the last price cuts the X2's are enough more expensive that I'd say in some
cases Intel is quite competitive for general use.

This is most notable for the 805, but also fairly significant for the 930
(nearly the performance of the X2 3800+, $80 cheaper) and 940 (beating the
3800+ on some benchmarks, $50 cheaper.)

Your choice I guess - 90nm P4 == still hot AIUI - P4s are being dumped just
now because Intel wanted to squelch AMD with preannouncements. The price
premium for the X2 has a err, reason?

 

[Keith]

Yeah isn't that funny - Firefox was supposed to be "lean & mean" but
Seamonkey feels faster.

I'm seeing some strange things now with Seamonkey. I've had to go
back to Firefox a couple of times.

 

[Nate Edel]

Your choice I guess - 90nm P4 == still hot AIUI - P4s are being dumped just
now because Intel wanted to squelch AMD with preannouncements. The price
premium for the X2 has a err, reason?

90nm P4/P-D is still hot, yes. 65nm is still hot, FTM, although less so.

The price premium for X2 has several reasons, only some of them having to do
with customers. Neither set of processors are perfect for all workloads and
price points.

 

[George Macdonald]

90nm P4/P-D is still hot, yes. 65nm is still hot, FTM, although less so.

The price premium for X2 has several reasons, only some of them having to do
with customers.

Like I said, Intel chose that direction. AMD price is higher because it
can be; right now NewEgg has "free shipping" on 930 and a lower price than

Neither set of processors are perfect for all workloads and
price points.

There is no uhh, "perfect processor". Having lived with AMD's better
thermal performance and management, I wouldn't "go back" now - that and
and the on-board memory controller gives a better balanced system from my
POV. I see no reason to even bother looking at Intel right now - you can
do what you wish.

 

[George Macdonald]

I'm seeing some strange things now with Seamonkey. I've had to go
back to Firefox a couple of times.

I've seen a few strange things with both - can't quite figure what the deal
is with Java versions ro whether that's the problem. Did you mean things
like text blocks overlapping images and neighbouring blocks? I'm still
using Firefox at work and Seamonkey at home and umm, waiting to see where
things go from here. Seems like Firefox 1.5.0.3 is crashing more than
predecessors, which is worrying for on-line buying.

 

[The little lost angel]

I've seen a few strange things with both - can't quite figure what the deal
is with Java versions ro whether that's the problem. Did you mean things
like text blocks overlapping images and neighbouring blocks? I'm still
using Firefox at work and Seamonkey at home and umm, waiting to see where
things go from here. Seems like Firefox 1.5.0.3 is crashing more than
predecessors, which is worrying for on-line buying.

Could it be due to something else like the plugins you installed or
java (hence the Sun JVM) that the sites are using, rather than a
problem with FF/SM itself? I've never actually had FF crash on me as
far as I can remember, occasional freeze for half a minute when
Acrobat starts or chokes, but not inexplicable puff and gone.

 

[George Macdonald]

Could it be due to something else like the plugins you installed or
java (hence the Sun JVM) that the sites are using, rather than a
problem with FF/SM itself? I've never actually had FF crash on me as
far as I can remember, occasional freeze for half a minute when
Acrobat starts or chokes, but not inexplicable puff and gone.

If it doesn't work with the latest plugins, what to do? I'm not using
anything exotic in the way of plugins and the only "extension" I have is
Prefbar which works fine with Seamonkey, though I *am* losing confidence in
Adobe reader in general (what a bloody mess they've made of it)... I'm not
going on a permutation spree. The memory footprint size *and* "growth" is
real and well reported... misery loves company.

 

[krw]

I've seen a few strange things with both - can't quite figure what the deal
is with Java versions ro whether that's the problem. Did you mean things
like text blocks overlapping images and neighbouring blocks? I'm still
using Firefox at work and Seamonkey at home and umm, waiting to see where
things go from here. Seems like Firefox 1.5.0.3 is crashing more than
predecessors, which is worrying for on-line buying.

Haven't see that. I sometimes just hangs, sometimes on startup,
sometimes not. That and some very erratic behavior. My main
complaint with FF was that it *often* crashes when printing. Since
I print my on-line order forms to PDFs, this is very annoying.

 

[krw]

though I *am* losing confidence in
Adobe reader in general (what a bloody mess they've made of it)... I'm not
going on a permutation spree. The memory footprint size *and* "growth" is
real and well reported... misery loves company.

I guess maybe! What an abortion.

 

[George Macdonald]

Haven't see that. I sometimes just hangs, sometimes on startup,
sometimes not. That and some very erratic behavior.

I don't get many hangs with Seamonkey - seen a couple... one last week to
some guy http://www.monkeyfood.com/blog/ who is coding his own Quicktime
components, i.e. plugins to a plugin, and testing them out on visitors
(Google picked up on one keyword at that site and I fell in the hole). IE6
gave the 'plugin missing' msg so it could be Quicktime 7 to blame - just
checked and it still hangs after updating to Quicktime 7.1. Sometimes I
wish they'd all quit "enhancing" software that works right.<sigh>

BTW you're not trying to run Firefox and Seamonkey at the same time?...
that's a no-no... though they can both be installed on the same system

My main
complaint with FF was that it *often* crashes when printing. Since
I print my on-line order forms to PDFs, this is very annoying.

Paperless umm, home - huh? As I glance at all the dead trees around me
here... good idea. What are you using as a PDF writer? Is that a Firefox
"extension" - apparently that's one of the worst things about Firefox:
extensions get broken with new versions... which, with the auto-update
doodad really pisses people off.

I must say I've had lots of problems like that recently, with printing Web
content - one a couple of weeks ago where Firefox (at the office) just died
-- no send report or anything -- when I tried to print a page of PDF
content to a Lexmark network printer. Upgrading Adobe Reader to 7.07 fixed
that... gawd, I am heartily sick of Adobe Reader. It's now so bloated we
need a "Speed Launch".<puke>

 

[krw]

I don't get many hangs with Seamonkey - seen a couple... one last week to
some guy http://www.monkeyfood.com/blog/ who is coding his own Quicktime
components, i.e. plugins to a plugin, and testing them out on visitors
(Google picked up on one keyword at that site and I fell in the hole). IE6
gave the 'plugin missing' msg so it could be Quicktime 7 to blame - just
checked and it still hangs after updating to Quicktime 7.1. Sometimes I
wish they'd all quit "enhancing" software that works right.<sigh>

I don't go anywhere that needs QT. What dreck.

BTW you're not trying to run Firefox and Seamonkey at the same time?...
that's a no-no... though they can both be installed on the same system
without interfering with each other... or so it is said.<shrug>

Oops. I've done it, but only after Seamonkey falls on its face.
They're both installed on my laptops. Maybe I should ditch FF?

Paperless umm, home - huh?

Um, not _quite_ paperless. ;-)

As I glance at all the dead trees around me
here... good idea. What are you using as a PDF writer? Is that a Firefox
"extension" - apparently that's one of the worst things about Firefox:
extensions get broken with new versions... which, with the auto-update
doodad really pisses people off.

No, I've used PDFCreator for some years. It's one of those things
that works right. Free too.

I must say I've had lots of problems like that recently, with printing Web
content - one a couple of weeks ago where Firefox (at the office) just died
-- no send report or anything -- when I tried to print a page of PDF
content to a Lexmark network printer. Upgrading Adobe Reader to 7.07 fixed
that... gawd, I am heartily sick of Adobe Reader. It's now so bloated we
need a "Speed Launch".<puke>

I stuck with version 4 as long as I could. Reader 6.0 was too
painful to bother with. Version 7 is worse, but I no longer have
V4. I don't understand what is "improved". Maybe they're going to
come out with a version that works and charge for it.

 

[George Macdonald]

I don't go anywhere that needs QT. What dreck.

Yeah well, again, it used to be kinda useful sometimes and was not so
bloody intrusive. I still remember the Mars Lander 360 degree views so it
was useful and impressive then.

Oops. I've done it, but only after Seamonkey falls on its face.
They're both installed on my laptops. Maybe I should ditch FF?

Maybe I wasn't clear enough - it's OK to have both installed. If Seamonkey
has fallen on its face and is not currently active it should be OK to run
Firefox.

Um, not _quite_ paperless. ;-)


No, I've used PDFCreator for some years. It's one of those things
that works right. Free too.

Amazing - thanks.

I stuck with version 4 as long as I could. Reader 6.0 was too
painful to bother with. Version 7 is worse, but I no longer have
V4. I don't understand what is "improved". Maybe they're going to
come out with a version that works and charge for it.

I keep getting documents which claim to need a newer version but you're
right... quite why we need vector graphics and animation in a "standard"
document format, escapes me. Now they've borged Shockwave/Flash I expect
things to get worse there too... if that's possible. Trouble is
sales-droids love all the bells 'n' whistles and they're easily conned.

 

[Sean]

I run 3080(1400+1680) x 1050 on the windows system at home
(1400x1050 and 1600x1200 at work) and let the processor do the
scaling. I still don't have enough desktop (will likely add my
19" CRT at 1280x1024 to the mix at home as soon as I decide on a
graphics card).

You don't want to run a 19" CRT at 1280x1024 as that is a 5:4 ratio which
is what a 19" LCD would use. You want to use 1280x960 which is a 4:3 ratio.

 

[chrisv]

You don't want to run a 19" CRT at 1280x1024 as that is a 5:4 ratio which
is what a 19" LCD would use. You want to use 1280x960 which is a 4:3 ratio.

Well, the slight horizontal stretch that you get running 1280x1024
isn't the end of the world...

I have a 19" CRT at work and run at 1152x864. To me, having things
comfortably large is more important than having more pixels. I like
to lean back.

 

[Keith]

When I got my first 19" display ('99) 1280x1024 was the standard
resolution above 1024x768. I guess I never went back to think
about it. Good point.

Well, the slight horizontal stretch that you get running 1280x1024
isn't the end of the world...

It is a good point though. The reason I was considering using the
Viewsonic was precisely for photographs. Any distortion is
badness.

I have a 19" CRT at work and run at 1152x864. To me, having things
comfortably large is more important than having more pixels. I like
to lean back.

If I want large I simply select a larger font (and I'm over an
arm's length from the display now). I generally want to cram as
many characters (and windows) on the screen as possible. I never
have a full-screen window displayed. Different strokes.

 

[Stuart Krivis]

Since Ubuntu is based off Debian which is supposed to be
good for server environment, I picked it to reduce any
additional confusion I might get from trying to learn two
different OS at the same time.

There is some confusion between distros, but it isn't horrible.
Deb/Ub, RH, and most of the rest have SysV style inits and
/etc/rc.d startup scripts. It is rumoured that this mess'o'symlinks
is easier to maintain (at least across a cluster), but I cannot
abide the complexity. So I still run Slackware after 10+ years.

Only had it for a day or two, still trying to figure out
why/how Firefox 1.5 wouldn't work on it. That's the main
problem with Linux I guess, you can't just download the
latest app and expect it to run just like Windows versions.

It probably is missing dependancies [libraries]. One of the main
reasons to use the OS supplier's packaging system. Sometimes these
can be downright horrible. I wanted to compile and install the
latest GNUMERIC spreadsheet. I needed to dl & build 10 libs to
turn my KDE system GNOME enough for GNUMERIC to compile and run.
This is a little extreme, but you get the idea.

apt-get install gnumeric

or something similar to that.