Intel Conroe

[akers]

Intel officially announced the "Conroe" today. They promise a 40% increase in performance over the current P-4. In other words, if you are willing to wait about six more months you can finally buy an Intel chip that is as fast as last years crop of Athlon 64s. And it will probably only cost twice as much as the comparable AMD chip.

What a DEAL!

Go Intel!!

 

[Matt2]

I think its a good chip. The benchmarks floating around are impressive, but people have to remember the chip is still six months away. SO before everyone gets their panties wet, I think we should wait for AMD's Rev. F chips.

 

[Quinton McLeod]

Originally posted by: akers
Intel officially announced the "Conroe" today. They promise a 40% increase in performance over the current P-4. In other words, if you are willing to wait about six more months you can finally buy an Intel chip that is as fast as last years crop of Athlon 64s. And it will probably only cost twice as much as the comparable AMD chip.

What a DEAL!

Go Intel!!

Intel fanboys and girls will probably say something about how the Conroe's speed may be increased by the time it's released. They'll also call you a fanboy and tell you that someone has to be the king and why not Intel.

The truth is, Conroe is competing against old processors and will only be available within 6 months. Yet, people are already praising the Conroe... We should wait until the processor is actually out. It's a bit too early to claim the victor.

 

[Centoros]

yeah, I agree. I do like those numbers and it does sound promising. I'm glad to see Intel headed in the right direction it seems. The competition will be good for all of us.

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: akers
Intel officially announced the "Conroe" today. They promise a 40% increase in performance over the current P-4. In other words, if you are willing to wait about six more months you can finally buy an Intel chip that is as fast as last years crop of Athlon 64s. And it will probably only cost twice as much as the comparable AMD chip.

Last I recall, the FX-62 isn't released. Or maybe you're posting from the future.

 

[akers]

Very true that we wil have to wait a few months for the real world results. It is also true that AMD is not sitting on its' laurels. Finally, I can't help but remember, and take into account, Intels long history of performance claims not achieved until the second or even third iteration of a chip (the first P-4 for example), delayed delivery, glitches/bugs that need workarounds or recalls, etc. Even the current Core Duo has 34 known bugs by Intels own documentation. The Pentium 4 has 65 that will not be fixed.

It would be great if Intel can deliver on time a product that honestly meets all their performance claims and does not have any bugs.

What was that old saying about those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it or words to that affect.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: dexvx

Originally posted by: akers
Intel officially announced the "Conroe" today. They promise a 40% increase in performance over the current P-4. In other words, if you are willing to wait about six more months you can finally buy an Intel chip that is as fast as last years crop of Athlon 64s. And it will probably only cost twice as much as the comparable AMD chip.

Last I recall, the FX-62 isn't released. Or maybe you're posting from the future.

Yep, it was running against a 2.8ghz FX-60. What more do you guys want? DDR2 won't close the 30% gap I'm seeing across the board.

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: akers
Very true that we wil have to wait a few months for the real world results. It is also true that AMD is not sitting on its' laurels. Finally, I can't help but remember, and take into account, Intels long history of performance claims not achieved until the second or even third iteration of a chip (the first P-4 for example), delayed delivery, glitches/bugs that need workarounds or recalls, etc. Even the current Core Duo has 34 known bugs by Intels own documentation. The Pentium 4 has 65 that will not be fixed.

It would be great if Intel can deliver on time a product that honestly meets all their performance claims and does not have any bugs.

What was that old saying about those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it or words to that affect.

That bolded part is a bit tough don't you think? AMD couldn't do it either. It's a really lofty goal that would be great, but is very difficult to achieve.

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: akers
Very true that we wil have to wait a few months for the real world results. It is also true that AMD is not sitting on its' laurels. Finally, I can't help but remember, and take into account, Intels long history of performance claims not achieved until the second or even third iteration of a chip (the first P-4 for example), delayed delivery, glitches/bugs that need workarounds or recalls, etc. Even the current Core Duo has 34 known bugs by Intels own documentation. The Pentium 4 has 65 that will not be fixed.

It would be great if Intel can deliver on time a product that honestly meets all their performance claims and does not have any bugs.

What's your point? The first A64's had over 100 documented bugs. Current revisions still have dozens. These are hardware issues that you will never see. Please know something about hardware development before you make stupid assumptions of erratica. Debugging a piece of silicon such as a modern CPU with absolutely 0 known bugs is impossible for today's market. If they did that, we'd still be operating on Pentium-133's.

 

[SunnyD]

Hexus has a pretty interesting article...

Conroe 2.67GHz is spanking an AMD FX60 @ 2.8GHz. I by no means am an Intel fanboi, hell, I'm an AMD evangelist, but Intel has definitely done a nice job here!

 

[ddeder]

Conroe is total vaporware. AMD is stomping Intel into the ground and a desperate Intel is comparing a CPU that doesn't even exist to an AMD CPU that is hobbled by an old motherboard and bios. Anandtech must be on the Intel payroll.

 

[deeznuts]

Hey, any old timers here remember the "Wait until Hammer comes out!!!1!!!!!1" posts from back in the day? Haha, I remember all those from my days of the sharky forums. I swear that lasted like 2 years. And I waited, and I bought (I'm on my 4 A64 chip), luckily I totally skipped the prescott crap.

Now it's time for "Wait until Conroe comes out!" And I will, and if those prices at DT hold, I'm goin for the ~$320 one with the larger cache.

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: ddeder
Conroe is total vaporware. AMD is stomping Intel into the ground and a desperate Intel is comparing a CPU that doesn't even exist to an AMD CPU that is hobbled by an old motherboard and bios. Anandtech must be on the Intel payroll.

Hobbled? People with FX-60's @ 2.8-3Ghz and Crossfire 1900XT's are getting around the same FPS. Memory timings were specifically set to 2-2-2/1T (something most DIY's dont have). If anything, the Conroe system was hobbled with DDR2@667 instead of 800.

A CPU that doesn't exist? Last I recall it was working silicone.

 

[Zensal]

That would be silicon. Silicone is for something entirely different.

Anyway, the one thing we all can agree on is that competition = lower prices and better products, which is good for all of us.

 

[Tangerines]

Originally posted by: Quinton McLeod

Originally posted by: akers
Intel officially announced the "Conroe" today. They promise a 40% increase in performance over the current P-4. In other words, if you are willing to wait about six more months you can finally buy an Intel chip that is as fast as last years crop of Athlon 64s. And it will probably only cost twice as much as the comparable AMD chip.

What a DEAL!

Go Intel!!

Intel fanboys and girls will probably say something about how the Conroe's speed may be increased by the time it's released. They'll also call you a fanboy and tell you that someone has to be the king and why not Intel.

The truth is, Conroe is competing against old processors and will only be available within 6 months. Yet, people are already praising the Conroe... We should wait until the processor is actually out. It's a bit too early to claim the victor.

Unless AMD can either squeeze a significant clockspeed boost out of their current architecture, or launch a new architecture in the next six months, they won't be able to hold onto their performance crown. A middle-of-the-line Conroe beating out an overclocked top end X2 by 30% across the board is pretty telling of what's to come. Give credit where credit is due.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: akers
Intel officially announced the "Conroe" today. They promise a 40% increase in performance over the current P-4. In other words, if you are willing to wait about six more months you can finally buy an Intel chip that is as fast as last years crop of Athlon 64s. And it will probably only cost twice as much as the comparable AMD chip.

What a DEAL!

Go Intel!!

thanx for the flamebait, dumba$$

 

[jiffylube1024]

Damn right Intel is doing a good job -- they're comparing a tech that's 6 months away, on a smaller manufacturing process (65nm), and clocked way higher than they ever got the Pentium M (Conroe's daddy). It better compare well to current gen AMD!

If nothing changes in 6 months, Intel is going to kick butt. But I doubt AMD just releases AM2 and calls it a day, and for the next 6 months, AMD is untouchable...

 

[robertk2012]

Originally posted by: ddeder
Conroe is total vaporware. AMD is stomping Intel into the ground and a desperate Intel is comparing a CPU that doesn't even exist to an AMD CPU that is hobbled by an old motherboard and bios. Anandtech must be on the Intel payroll.

Have you ever stopped to wonder why apple went with intel? What about dell sticking with intel even when it was rumored to go with AMD. Do you think this processor might have something to do with it. Just maybe?

 

[AthlonPowers]

Both Apple and Dell are with Intel because of deep discounts first, and its ability to produce chips second. I can understand that Dell has been hankering after a chip that actually performs well compared to Opteron, especially after Itanic. Apple is a portable whore, and IBM was never going to squeeze a G5 into a portable, especially as Apple never asked (allegedly).

 

[Quinton McLeod]

Originally posted by: robertk2012

Originally posted by: ddeder
Conroe is total vaporware. AMD is stomping Intel into the ground and a desperate Intel is comparing a CPU that doesn't even exist to an AMD CPU that is hobbled by an old motherboard and bios. Anandtech must be on the Intel payroll.

Have you ever stopped to wonder why apple went with intel? What about dell sticking with intel even when it was rumored to go with AMD. Do you think this processor might have something to do with it. Just maybe?

Why stop and think about it when it's already obvious?
It's about the money. Intel offers Dell incentives that allow Dell to save a load of cash. Same with Apple. Steve Jobs knew that if he went to Intel, his company would save money.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024
Damn right Intel is doing a good job -- they're comparing a tech that's 6 months away, on a smaller manufacturing process (65nm), and clocked way higher than they ever got the Pentium M (Conroe's daddy). It better compare well to current gen AMD!

If nothing changes in 6 months, Intel is going to kick butt. But I doubt AMD just releases AM2 and calls it a day, and for the next 6 months, AMD is untouchable...

1) AMD does not have a 2.8 GHZ part out. In 6 months, there might be a 2.8GHZ part. MAYBE a 3.0. Even if its a 3.0 GHZ part, the current benchmarks suggest that the Conroe will still BLOW AMD away.

Btw, IIRC, the Core Duo processors are pretty competative with AMD offerings clock for clock. Plus it has higher performance per watt.

 

[linkgoron]

FFS guys 6 months is a long time! Just think about it, 6 months ago the X800GT was launched, 7 month ago the 7800GT was launched. Which was a very long time ago, and they already had a refresh (just to show you perspective)... It's not as if 6 months is a week. You guys are talking about Conroe as if it's already out. There's nothing wrong with buying an AMD or Intel machine today if you need a PC. A top of the line PC today will be great in 6 months. This is ,imo, what Intel wanted.

They want to confuse users, and show them conroe's excellent performance, yet
telling them that there's still 6 months until we actually these hit retail. Now people are telling "oh just wait 6 months, don't buy a PC because there's the next best thing RIGHT around the corner". It made people forget that the best CPU today (and for the next 6 months) is the FX-60 (or whatever the top of the line AMD chip is)

There's always something around the corner, and I also think Anand played a part in this (unknowingly). I mean "Intel regains performance crown" title for a product that will hit retail 6 months from now is kind of misleading. It's not coming out this week or the next one. Then again this is just my opinion.

Just think about it, if nVidia and ATi will show previews of their cards 6 months before release then users will say "OMG dont buy the 7800GTX because the 512MB is coming, oh wait now the 7900GTX is coming... or wait now the X2800 is coming...". That's what's always happening in the PC market. Lets wait forever.

Oh, btw, don't you think that if AMD will have an answer (I don't think they will but...) 6 months after the conroe launches, and they'll have a pre-view it 6 months from now showing how they "regain the performance crown", will make you happy, will you wait for them? 6 months is a long time, but the performance makes you forget that, while you're still playing games on lower resses because you want to wait.

 

[ddeder]

And what happens when Intel delays Conroe by 6 - 12 months? This is a desperate Intel ploy that we have all seen before. Maybe AMD should respond with a vaporware launch of a 10GHZ 64 core Athlon that triples the performance of Conroe - to be debuted in 6 months.

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: ddeder
And what happens when Intel delays Conroe by 6 - 12 months? This is a desperate Intel ploy that we have all seen before. Maybe AMD should respond with a vaporware launch of a 10GHZ 64 core Athlon that triples the performance of Conroe - to be debuted in 6 months.

That statement will be credible if they demo'ed live silicon capable of running commercial software.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Hacp

1) AMD does not have a 2.8 GHZ part out. In 6 months, there might be a 2.8GHZ part. MAYBE a 3.0. Even if its a 3.0 GHZ part, the current benchmarks suggest that the Conroe will still BLOW AMD away.

Btw, IIRC, the Core Duo processors are pretty competative with AMD offerings clock for clock. Plus it has higher performance per watt.

Yeah but AMD has 2.6 Ghz out; 2.8 is around the corner. In 6 months I'm sure AMD will have performance previews for 65nm A64's pushing into the 3 Ghz range that will get everyone salivating and thinking maybe Intel isn't such a good idea for the future.

In the here and now, AMD is top dog. We'll just have to wait and see if nothing new turns up over the next 6 months before annointing Intel with the crown for Conroe.

It's good to see Intel try something new and give performance per watt a spin, for a change. Clockspeed hasn't been giving them rewards since Prescott was first announced...