[Grey Wolf]

With the announcement of the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition at the Intel Developer's Conference, the high-end processors from the three largest suppliers of consumer processors (Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and Apple) will all be modified versions of server processors. The P4EE will be based upon the Gallatin cores (which are used in Xeon processors), the Athlon FX will be based upon the Sledgehammer core (used in the Opteron processors), and the PowerPC 970 is based upon the Power 5 core by IBM.

The announcement of the P4EE also raises some interesting questions about the future of the chip code-named Prescott. Assuming that the P4EE, with it's marked advantage in cache, outperforms a 3.2 GHz Northwood-based processor by ~10-20%, it could quite likely overtake a 3.4 GHz Prescott-based processor. This would leave Intel in an interesting position: Attempting to replace a more powerful processor with a less powerful processor.

What may happen (and I believe it to be a distinct possibility) is for Intel to come out with a 90nm variant of the P4EE with the enhancements which are currently being integrated into Prescott, leaving Prescott to be a mid-range processor, with the Celerons retaining their status as budget chips.

On the AMD side, it is well known that the Athlon FX released at launch, which is based on the Sledgehammer core, will be replaced next year by a variant based on a 90nm core, code-named San Diego. The primary difference between the two cores appears to be the memory controller, as the San Diego-based processors will replace the current 128-bit controller with two separate 64-bit controllers. However, it is likely to share many elements of its design with the Sledgehammer's replacement in Opterons, which appears to be code-named Athens.

Due to these developments, and also the debut of SATA drives rotating at 10000 RPMs, the predictions from the early 1990s of computers becoming closer to home appliances are obviously wrong. It appears that personal computers are instead becoming more like servers.

What do you think? Do I have a point?

[Liberator]

Well, it's the natural progression of technology.  Servers have, for a long time, been the high end for data processing and storage technology.  But as technological gulf between servers and PCs has shrunk PCs have become more like servers to handle the bloated software that runs on modern systems.

[Nico]

I think I'll still pick up the best processor I can afford... all those thecnical details means little to me.

[J3Vr6]

So whats a good processor that will last me years?  I was using a 450 mhz AMD for years, then moved up to my laptop that had 800 mhz.  Now that's definitely outdated, especially since the graphics on a laptop can't be upgraded

I want to definitely move up in performance.  Any ideas?  Btw, what's the fastest processor out in the market right now?

[diamondgeezer]

Fact: the Pentium 4 Northwood 3.2 is 63% more expensive than the 3.0 model. I wonder how many 3.2s they sell...

[ChronoReverse]

Another Fact.  The P4EE has 2MB of extra L3 cache.  If you take a look at the Xeon, the extra L3 cache really didn't help much for games.  Why are they even bothering to target the gamers?

[Martinus]

Originally posted by Venom
I think I'll still pick up the best processor I can afford... all those thecnical details means little to me.

[color=66ff00]That good sir, is an excellent idea.
[/color]

[Flipside]

LOL Yep, same here, I look at clock speed, the rest is just pineapple as far as I'm concerned

[Liberator]

Umm, you must not look at Athlons then.  They are slower than Pentiums.

[Flipside]

Depends, I know that a 1.7xp+ runs at 1.46 Gigs, if that's what you mean

Flipside

[pyro-manic]

Originally posted by Venom
I think I'll still pick up the best processor I can afford... all those thecnical details means little to me.

Sounds like a plan to me....

[J3Vr6]

But can anyone answer my question?

[Grey Wolf]

Originally posted by J3Vr6
So whats a good processor that will last me years?  I was using a 450 mhz AMD for years, then moved up to my laptop that had 800 mhz.  Now that's definitely outdated, especially since the graphics on a laptop can't be upgraded

I want to definitely move up in performance.  Any ideas?  Btw, what's the fastest processor out in the market right now?

Right now? The P4 3.2C. In one week? The AMD Athlon FX 51. By Christmas? Who knows.

EDIT: And by one week, I mean 5 days. The FX 51 is coming out on the 23rd.

[Kamikaze]

Originally posted by Flipside
LOL Yep, same here, I look at clock speed, the rest is just pineapple as far as I'm concerned

Not a very good strategy, because of marketing concerns "speed" can be raised in a fakey way. Clock speed isn't the only factor which determines performance.

BTW: About newer procs, I think intel's marketing division is on crack or is out of ideas. I mean, "extreme edition"? That's just sad.

[Grey Wolf]

That was my general opinion of it. The entire Marketing department should be canned

[Nico]

Originally posted by Kamikaze


Not a very good strategy, because of marketing concerns "speed" can be raised in a fakey way. Clock speed isn't the only factor which determines performance.

BTW: About newer procs, I think intel's marketing division is on crack or is out of ideas. I mean, "extreme edition"? That's just sad.

I look at benchmarks, actually, nt manufacturer's sheets.
Oh, and as a rule, I take AMD, not Intel.

[Martinus]

Originally posted by Kamikaze

BTW: About newer procs, I think intel's marketing division is on crack or is out of ideas. I mean, "extreme edition"? That's just sad.

[color=66ff00]Must've had a brainwave whilst playing streetfighter. EX-plus-alpha-ultra-special-ninja-edition-king-of-processors.

It has to be true...
[/color]

[J.F.K.]

Give me price/performance sweet spot or give me... no wait, just give me the sweet spot.

[Turnsky]

i'll stay away from anything with "Extreme" stuck on it thankyouverymuch:doubt:

[J3Vr6]

So why is AMD better than Pentiums?  I always hear people saying AMD is the way to go, but why?  My 450 mhz was AMD and my brother in law had a pentium 400.  We both had the same amount of memory, from the same manufacturer, and I had a better graphics card (at the time).  But his computer always benchmarked higher than mine.  It drove me nuts.