AMD 64 bit processor

[Mikey7]

About 8 months ago ( the intel 2.53 was the hot item then) I started researching hardware for my new computer. At first, as a total newbie, I was looking for the fastest processor and Ram I could get. It didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that most of you already knew. The system was only going to run as fast as the slowest bottleneck in it. With this new genius insight I embaked on a quest for a system that would eliminate as many of the botttle necks as possible with only a secondary concern over processor speed. What I found was somewhat discouraging. Every board and and chipset I found was lacking in one area or another. In particular I had come to the conclusion that in the relative near future we were going to see the shift toward 64 bit technology. There was no board or chipset that would support this and the other options available on current boards. I was teased laughed at and even treated as if I was a total imbicil for suggesting this. THANK YOU AMD for my validation. The new AMD recently announced will move to 64 bit support. This may finally let me test my thruput theory against the big 3. whatever glugahurts of intel. With this board my final configuration will look like this.

Case Li-an Li 7x modded
AMD 64 bit processor on hopefully an Epox board with 2 64 bit PCI slots. w/
400mgz FSB
8x AGP
PCIX bus
400mgz system bus
Nvda, 3Dlabs or Radeon VPU
creative platinum audio
LSI ultra 320 SCSI controller and Raid card hopefully they will up grade RAM support beyond current PC2100
4 36.9 15000 rpm hard drive array
If it all comes together I cant wait to bench it against the high speed intel. I am beting I will smoke them.

 

[hassmh]

Unfortunately it looks as though the first 64bit CPUs from AMD will be the Opterons, designed for servers and workstations thus being in competition with Intel's Xeon and Itanium CPUs rather than the P4s. By the time the desktop 64bits are out in Q3 2003 the fastest P4 will probably be at least 3.5GHz on an 200MHz quad-pumped (so 800MHz) FSB. If the Athlon64 is running at a reasonably high speed like 2.5GHz it should compete pretty well with that, but I doubt it will have significantly better performance. If AMD can get the 90nm Athlon64s out not long after they put out the 130nm ones, they could give Intel a serious run for the top 32bit desktop performance spot.

 

[Top Hat Theater]

I'd like to see some recent Opteron benchmarks with regard to 32-bit use. I heard rumors that it'll perform as though the chip had dual dies.

~THT

 

[NookieN]

Yeah 32-bit benchmarks will be key. Don't plan to buy a 64-bit cpu just because it's 64-bit... unless you really know that you need 64-bit for something.

 

[Mikey7]

Compare the bandwidth 64-32 If you are doing anything really intense and you limit yourself to a 32 bit pci which is what I would have to use now with the LSI Raid card. Functionally I automatically would limit the system to a 32 bit thruput. Normally when someone wants this kind of power they go SMP but then you lose FsB speed and agp. So this seems to be the best alternative to meet all my needs. Besides I still believ the the technolgy coming to us in the future will go 64 bit so why not get a head start. Like I said earlier I think I will be able to smoke the faster intels with this system. Time will tell I guess.

 

[Mikey7]

Also I was in email correspondence with AMD and the chip will not be limited to servers they assured me that it would be the their new desktop entry.

 

[Goo Kenson]

Also I was in email correspondence with AMD and the chip will not be limited to servers they assured me that it would be the their new desktop entry.

I'm afraid you misunderstood them. There will be a 64 bit desktop cpu out, but that will be out in Q4 of 2003. The one coming out at the beginning of the year is the server chip.

 

[NookieN]

The fact that the cpu supports "64-bits" has nothing to do with bandwidth. PCI is 32-bit in desktop systems simply because that is the standard. There have been 64-bit PCI slots for use in servers since the days of the Pentium Pro. Modern memory interfaces are 64-bit, or 128-bit in dual channel configurations. The 64-bit aspect of Hammer just refers to the chip's native word size (and even then it only has a 40-bit address space).

 

[hassmh]

The core itself I believe is essentially the same, but the one geared toward servers will have a 1 or 2MB cache and probably debut slower as it will come out a few months earlier than the desktop version. It will also be intended for multiprocessor use whereas the desktop version will be single CPU only, I believe. Not sure on what other differences there will be, but there will be two chips, Opteron and Athlon64, with the Opteron debuting first.

 

[Mikey7]

Goo- According to AMD website the 64 bit will be out late 1st quarter or early second quarter 2003 just behind the opetron. Of course this means you are probably right with a 4th quarter release.

Thanks NookieN ----Still learnin' but still sold on the idea

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Mikey7, sounds like a nice setup you plan. I'd consider it a dream machine with SCSI raid.

I also heard somewhere that the Hammer core would act like dual 32 bit cores in 32 bit processes, being ~2x as fast. Would be nice, wouldn't it?

 

[Mikey7]

It would be great Voodoo. And yes it is my dream machine. Gonna cost me the National Debt but what the H@#$ its only money and I don't need to eat anyway

 

[Arkaine23]

dream machine

Well.... The dream machine would have 8 Opterons and 64GB of ram. and it would cost a small fortune. Maybe we'll build a few duals or a quad at work. /me hopes

 

[Mikey7]

Arcaine LOL I guess that would be a dream machine --But then I don't plan on simulating a neuclear explosion or the entire Human geonome.

 

[Top Hat Theater]

The core itself I believe is essentially the same, but the one geared toward servers will have a 1 or 2MB cache and probably debut slower as it will come out a few months earlier than the desktop version. It will also be intended for multiprocessor use whereas the desktop version will be single CPU only, I believe. Not sure on what other differences there will be, but there will be two chips, Opteron and Athlon64, with the Opteron debuting first.

I thought the Athlon-64 was going to be SMP capable?

~THT

 

[araknis]

You're all talknig about something that isn't still real! Keep that in mind! So, don't plan a lot...
AMD has a lot of problems to release his Athlon64 CPUs. And i guess it will take a lot of time. Someone say that it will be released in 2k3, in September. And even AMD isn't sure of its features. So, we'd better stay calm and wait...
Claudio

 

[Mikey7]

Araknis-- I agree withyou that we shouldn't get too excited yet, but they did preview the 64 at Comdex in Las Vegas. The review said they were having a little stutter in the 8X agp mode but other than that it was working smoothly. According to their Tech support department the chip will support all of the features we have available now 8X agp,400 system bus, 400 fsb or maybe a little higher, plus pCI X and 64 bit PCI slots. They also told me that it would be released in late 1st quarter or early 2nd quarter of 2003. Whether all of this comes true we will just have to wait and see.

 

[Gnufsh]

No, the ultimate dream machine would be a massive beowulf cluster of thousands of 8-way opteron servers with 64GB ram each, interconnected with multiple bonded gigabit ethernet links. If you really want power, that is. Not too useful for gaming or surfing the web, though.