NicePants42
05-16-2007, 10:28 AM
Many will be interested in the Q6600, priced at $266 (per thousand). A sub-$300 Quad Core 2 is going to be a tough hurdle. Even if Barcelona is faster, the history of AMD and pricing doesn't get me thinking of sunshine and lollipops.
I hope, for the sake of consumers, that AMD makes it.
Link to Dailytech.
(http://www.dailytech.com/Intel+Readies+Price+Cuts+For+Quadcore+Desktop+Serv er+Processors/article7293.htm)
Another thing that looks interesting is the new P35 chipset recently used in Ananadtech's DDR2 vs DDR3 memory comparison (http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989&p=1) - particularly the part on page 4 where they state:
"It is a noteworthy advantage with the P35 chipset motherboards that every Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processor we tested on the P35 boards ran at 1333 FSB speeds at the stock multiplier without the need to increase voltage. This is a significant, free, and pain-free overclock provided courtesy of the new 1333 bus speed option. The only exception to this was our top-line X6800 which did require a mild voltage boost to run at 333x11 (3.67GHz)."
The table above this paragraph shows that they were able to run the Q6600 at 333x9 = 2.997Ghz, which is faster than a stock QX6800, which will sell for ~$1000 even after the 7/22 price cuts - and this was done without increasing core voltage.
Looks like upgrade path 'A' to me, and you can still choose your DDR flavor.
I hope, for the sake of consumers, that AMD makes it.
Link to Dailytech.
(http://www.dailytech.com/Intel+Readies+Price+Cuts+For+Quadcore+Desktop+Serv er+Processors/article7293.htm)
Another thing that looks interesting is the new P35 chipset recently used in Ananadtech's DDR2 vs DDR3 memory comparison (http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989&p=1) - particularly the part on page 4 where they state:
"It is a noteworthy advantage with the P35 chipset motherboards that every Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processor we tested on the P35 boards ran at 1333 FSB speeds at the stock multiplier without the need to increase voltage. This is a significant, free, and pain-free overclock provided courtesy of the new 1333 bus speed option. The only exception to this was our top-line X6800 which did require a mild voltage boost to run at 333x11 (3.67GHz)."
The table above this paragraph shows that they were able to run the Q6600 at 333x9 = 2.997Ghz, which is faster than a stock QX6800, which will sell for ~$1000 even after the 7/22 price cuts - and this was done without increasing core voltage.
Looks like upgrade path 'A' to me, and you can still choose your DDR flavor.