8 core or 6 core?

[caddi daddi]

I have 4 fx 8120 cpu's, i pop one out and another one in, i run them on 2,4,6, and all 8 cores this thing is so small to run so hot at high clocks that no waterblock is really up to the task of cooling them. on 6 cores 2 core are just idled but still making heat.
my question is, should i trade one of them off for a six core?
I was thinking about an 1100t or an fx6100.

please comment.

i can get rid of 1 because i have four

 

[EpicMango]

I really don't know why you would want to get rid of a more powerful processor in favor of a less powerful one. You may not fully utilize that FX 8120 now, but in the future, you will..

I would just stick with those FX 8120's!

 

[Frakk]

you have four? well i see no point in having 4 identical CPU's, yeah sure.... why not go the whole hog and swap the other 4 for different CPU's.

In any case normally i would just say stick with the FX8, yet as you have 4 an 1100t or any x6 BE is a nice CPU. Trust me, its great

 

[mjw21a]

Yeah, I'd have to say my old X6 was a fair bit faster with Handbrake than my 8120. I've noticed no difference in anything else. I don't bench so it was knid of a pointless change..... Still I'll be changing to PD once the AM3+ chips are available.

 

[caddi daddi]

I can't see getting into pd, we can't cool this beast. will we be able to cool 10 cores and then 12 cores? i've tried a few waterblocks and this thing is just to small of a package to cool at high clocks. if piledriver is on a larger platform i could just see getting one.

 

[Frakk]

I can't see getting into pd, we can't cool this beast. will we be able to cool 10 cores and then 12 cores? i've tried a few waterblocks and this thing is just to small of a package to cool at high clocks. if piledriver is on a larger platform i could just see getting one.

There have been rumours flying around about PD getting 10 cores, i think i highlighted it once myself, but as things have moved on i doubt they will get 10 cores now.

If Trinity (PD cores) is anything to go by it will have vastly better power consumption (Trinity certainly does) with that your probably looking at lower temps once the full bore FX-8350 or whatever they call it is with us.

This is all speculation, yet based on what we have seen so far with the new APU.

Time as always will tell, don't lose hope

For now give up one of your FX-8's and go get that x6 BE, you will not regret it.

 

[mjw21a]

I can't see getting into pd, we can't cool this beast. will we be able to cool 10 cores and then 12 cores? i've tried a few waterblocks and this thing is just to small of a package to cool at high clocks. if piledriver is on a larger platform i could just see getting one.

Easy, lower power useage = lower heat output dude. Simple maths. And yeah, I'd love a 10 or 12 core chip. I don't see it happening without a die shrink though. Useless except for the server space.

 

[caddi daddi]

if they can get the power/heat thing down i'll be cookin with gas.
but when 99% of the time i fire up my 8120 rig, i'm running on two cores playing angry birds with my grandson at 4.8ghz(that just makes me smile) and the other 1% i 'm running my numbers crunchin program at 4.4 ghz. running that program takes 42 hours, my 955 machine at 4.0 ghz takes 5 days. what should i expect a six core to run it in?

 

[mjw21a]

Depends on what code your running. If it makes use of the new instructions included in BD then that will be faster, if not then a Phenom X6 will be faster.

 

[caddi daddi]

i think the guy said it is in either perl or python( i'm not into programing) and i run it in ubuntu linux.

 

[caddi daddi]

the cost of a 6 core is not to steep to try but the wife does complain about the boxes of hardware all over the place. the other thing i do know is that the sabertooth is really only just up to the task with the 8 cores. I have taken them and plugged them into other boards and some of the highend boards help it along pretty well.

 

[Frakk]

if they can get the power/heat thing down i'll be cookin with gas.
but when 99% of the time i fire up my 8120 rig, i'm running on two cores playing angry birds with my grandson at 4.8ghz(that just makes me smile) and the other 1% i 'm running my numbers crunchin program at 4.4 ghz. running that program takes 42 hours, my 955 machine at 4.0 ghz takes 5 days. what should i expect a six core to run it in?

Is that litral?

I think an (x4 955?) is just as an x6 only with 2 less cores, so i don't know... take 50% at best performance off those 5 days, i think that would give you around 3.5 days, maybe?

There are some aspects where BD is far better than Thuban, even SB, this might well be one of them.

 

[mjw21a]

Yeah, I've just been looking at how Bulldozer compares with benchmarks in Linux. Looks to be far more competitive funnily enough. Microsoft lagging the geek community on support by the looks of it.

 

[JigPu]

If its Perl or Python, I very doubt they'll be using the BD instructions since the interpreter/compiler probably doesn't know of their existence. That said, with your compute times dropping by more than half from the 955 to the 8120, it suggests that the application may be multithreaded (and integer-heavy). If that's the case, a 6-core chip should be somewhere between the two in terms of performance.

JigPu

 

[caddi daddi]

is it valid to use intel burn test and compare gflops to compare or estimate cpu performance?

 

[Frakk]

is it valid to use intel burn test and compare gflops to compare or estimate cpu performance?

If your looking for a Linux number crunching monster? i'm not sure Intel burn test on an AMD in Windows will give you in any way an accurate picture.

Looking at this thread and the bits and pieces around the net your probably not going to do better for its money (and then some more) than your FX-8.

But try it anyway, i can tell you at 4Ghz with some lift on the CPU NB an x6 will hit 70 GFlops, i would be interested to see where the FX-8 stands there. just don't take the number you get from it as an accurate readout, it probably isn't.

Edit,- Have you considered a server CPU?

 

[RGone]

"Frakk", I don't really think "Caddi Daddi" is greatly concerned with how fast his configs crunch his file. What he really is wondering is the dang heat from FX-8120 worth it, since he uses his system with cores disabled in general to keep away from all the heat these FX-series produce.

No I do not mean to say he is not happy to crunch that application in 45 hrs instead of 5 days, but that is not his main concern.

Now were it me, I would get a Sintel board and do the gaming and the crunching as well. Leave the heat behind except for play with AMD if he wanted to do so.

I am typing this from a DFI P55 board with an 860 cpu in it (8core HPT) and it idles @ 1400Mhz and goes to about 3.6Ghz when in use. Temps idle are 26c to 36c when working. No monster fan turning to keep it cool. So it is strokes for folks.

I am waiting on PD to try an AMD again. But it is not a have to situation by any means.

Caddi Daddi, man have you tried using AOD (or similar) and setting up profiles for crunching and another for gaming? That might make it a little easier to swap around for computing power based on usage.

 

[Frakk]

"Frakk", I don't really think "Caddi Daddi" is greatly concerned with how fast his configs crunch his file. What he really is wondering is the dang heat from FX-8120 worth it, since he uses his system with cores disabled in general to keep away from all the heat these FX-series produce.

No I do not mean to say he is not happy to crunch that application in 45 hrs instead of 5 days, but that is not his main concern.

Now were it me, I would get a Sintel board and do the gaming and the crunching as well. Leave the heat behind except for play with AMD if he wanted to do so.

I am typing this from a DFI P55 board with an 860 cpu in it (8core HPT) and it idles @ 1400Mhz and goes to about 3.6Ghz when in use. Temps idle are 26c to 36c when working. No monster fan turning to keep it cool. So it is strokes for folks.

I am waiting on PD to try an AMD again. But it is not a have to situation by any means.

Caddi Daddi, man have you tried using AOD (or similar) and setting up profiles for crunching and another for gaming? That might make it a little easier to swap around for computing power based on usage.

I was responding to what i quoted, in it he asked about comparing CPU performance, not heat.

 

[vanforum]

I was actually in a very similar situation a while back and in the end I went for the Phenom X6. Whether it was actually a good choice or not I have no idea ^^

 

[RGone]

I was responding to what i quoted, in it he asked about comparing CPU performance, not heat.

Breakdown in my non-communicative powers.