AMD Athlon 64 FX-74 & Quad FX Platform Review

Having just tested both these machines at a trade show today, I can confirm that the Quad FX is a more than capable machine, especially if you are megatasking and gaming.

With loads of programs running, this thing hardly dropped below 60fps in quakle 4, whilst the kentsfield was way down in the 30's with the same test, this was with kentsfield at clock speeed of course.

I do however see the beefits of this machine and now wish to build one, can anyone tell me when the parts will be available to buy seprately.
 
Mofoman said:
Having just tested both these machines at a trade show today, I can confirm that the Quad FX is a more than capable machine, especially if you are megatasking and gaming.

With loads of programs running, this thing hardly dropped below 60fps in quakle 4, whilst the kentsfield was way down in the 30's with the same test, this was with kentsfield at clock speeed of course.

I do however see the beefits of this machine and now wish to build one, can anyone tell me when the parts will be available to buy seprately.
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Can you define 'loads of programs'?

All reviews show Kentsfield with higher gaming performance even when multitasking with one or two CPU intensive programs in the background. According to Xbitlabs, QFX requires 4 simulateneous processes in the background to be able to use it's bandwith advantage to overtake Kentsfield.

http://xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-quad-fx_12.html
multitasking.png
 
harpoon said:
Can you define 'loads of programs'?

All reviews show Kentsfield with higher gaming performance even when multitasking with one or two CPU intensive programs in the background. According to Xbitlabs, QFX requires 4 simulateneous processes in the background to be able to use it's bandwith advantage to overtake Kentsfield.

http://xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-quad-fx_12.html
multitasking.png
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The demo I saw was running six programs in the background.The demo also showed that the core 2 extreme processor was better at multitasking for this particular test as well, just like the xbit test.One other test was uploading several files whilst gaming and in thias test too, Quad FX had better game performance than kentsfield, and that is exactly what I would like it for, as I have to upload alot of files whilst gaming.

I must also add that I have now found out that they were using the new optimiser at this event, as I have since found out that the first DC optimiser did not work 100 percent with the new Quad FX system, so my question now, is can we see some new gaming benches with people having the new optimiser installed.

This system that I saw running was also was running FX72's overclocked to 3GHZ.I think the price point of the entry quad core system (FX70 price)makes Quad FX a very attractive propisition for a stopgap until barcelona arrives and you can sell the previous processors and upgrade to either just one barcelona or two.

I don't want to hear that kentsfield is better, as I know it has advantages over Quad FX, but for the way that I use and game, Quad FX is better for me.It will also enable me to sell alot of my spare pc's and just transfer the Sata drives into the Quad FX system.
 
harpoon said:
Can you define 'loads of programs'?

All reviews show Kentsfield with higher gaming performance even when multitasking with one or two CPU intensive programs in the background. According to Xbitlabs, QFX requires 4 simulateneous processes in the background to be able to use it's bandwith advantage to overtake Kentsfield.

http://xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-quad-fx_12.html
multitasking.png
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This has to be the dumbest benchmark ever ! Who runs 6 copies of WinRAR at the same time ?

Not to mention that WinRar is the only program where K8 performs nicely compared to Conroe.

Your conclusion ( and Xbit too ) is also flawed ; you can have far more processes than 4 in the background and QuadFX wouldn't overtake QX6700.The Winrar test is simply the exception that proves the rule : Kentsfield shines in a multitasking and on top of that highly multithreaded environment.

Look no further than this :
photoshop+3dsmax+xvid.png
 
savantu said:
This has to be the dumbest benchmark ever ! Who runs 6 copies of WinRAR at the same time ?

Not to mention that WinRar is the only program where K8 performs nicely compared to Conroe.

Your conclusion ( and Xbit too ) is also flawed ; you can have far more processes than 4 in the background and QuadFX wouldn't overtake QX6700.The Winrar test is simply the exception that proves the rule : Kentsfield shines in a multitasking and on top of that highly multithreaded environment.

Look no further than this :
photoshop+3dsmax+xvid.png
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I already said that I am interested in the Quadfather for what it can do for ME, not you or anyone else.I have had some time with it, and I am very impressed with what it can do for me.It has huge potential for the future too.And for your information, for business I run lots of instances of Winrar at once and have had far more than eight instances of winrar running at once.

Now for yourself, you may run those apps whilst playing games, but I don't, and for what I saw , Quad FX is for me.I don't think that it should matter to anyone what platofrm I choose.Can anyone help me on where I can buy the parts seprately to build myself a system.
 
Mofoman said:
I already said that I am interested in the Quadfather for what it can do for ME, not you or anyone else.I have had some time with it, and I am very impressed with what it can do for me.It has huge potential for the future too.And for your information, for business I run lots of instances of Winrar at once and have had far more than eight instances of winrar running at once.

Now for yourself, you may run those apps whilst playing games, but I don't, and for what I saw , Quad FX is for me.I don't think that it should matter to anyone what platofrm I choose.Can anyone help me on where I can buy the parts seprately to build myself a system.
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From what I recall the parts for Quad FX aren't shipping till 2007, so you cna't acquire the platform yet outside of ES I guess.
 
coldpower27 said:
From what I recall the parts for Quad FX aren't shipping till 2007, so you cna't acquire the platform yet outside of ES I guess.
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Thanks Cold power, I guess I will just buy an 8800GTX just now then and then install it in the Quad FX once I get it early next year.

It's a pity you cannot buy the parts yet, I was really looking forward to having one for Xmas, ah well, guess I'll save some money on electric for Xmas then.

If any one does come across parts for the system, can you please post here so that us potential Quadfathers ;) can build a system.
 
Mofoman said:
Thanks Cold power, I guess I will just buy an 8800GTX just now then and then install it in the Quad FX once I get it early next year.

It's a pity you cannot buy the parts yet, I was really looking forward to having one for Xmas, ah well, guess I'll save some money on electric for Xmas then.

If any one does come across parts for the system, can you please post here so that us potential Quadfathers ;) can build a system.
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Good for you. I wouldn't touch it with a Ten Foot Pole though. Even if I were to win one, it'd be on EBay so fast it wouldn't be funny or maybe I'd just PM you with a price. IMHO, for its power usesage, end performance and price, it is a bad deal.
 
I'm sorry, but the P4 in no way dominated the Athlon XP.... It may have out-performed it from time to time, but AXP did the same to the P4...
 
Donnie27 said:
Good for you. I wouldn't touch it with a Ten Foot Pole though. Even if I were to win one, it'd be on EBay so fast it wouldn't be funny or maybe I'd just PM you with a price. IMHO, for its power usesage, end performance and price, it is a bad deal.
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I think If I "won" or was given such a curiosity I would put it on display for a while. Then stick it in a drawer with all the other useless PC parts I have.... My sense of honor wouldn't allow me to foist it on someone via E-Bay. And I don't want to pay the electric bill to have it running, regardless of how well it might heat my apartment while running 4 instances of F@H. ;)
 
freezepc said:
I'm sorry, but the P4 in no way dominated the Athlon XP.... It may have out-performed it from time to time, but AXP did the same to the P4...
Click to expand...

P4 Northwood -> Athlon XP. Willamette sucked of course.
 
Cannydog said:
I think If I "won" or was given such a curiosity I would put it on display for a while. Then stick it in a drawer with all the other useless PC parts I have.... My sense of honor wouldn't allow me to foist it on someone via E-Bay. And I don't want to pay the electric bill to have it running, regardless of how well it might heat my apartment while running 4 instances of F@H. ;)
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It'd go straight to EBay. There are AMD Green-hearted Guys who love to have it. Why deprive them of their Dream System? Helping one of these folks' dream come true is the Honorable thing to do ;)
 
Yeah I can't wait to have my Quad Fx up and running, though I would never buy off ebay, I would want to build the system myself, so I know everything is ok and up to the standard's I have.

Went back for the last day of that special conference to see the baby up and running again.It really is a beautiful system.
 
Mofoman said:
Yeah I can't wait to have my Quad Fx up and running, though I would never buy off ebay, I would want to build the system myself, so I know everything is ok and up to the standard's I have.

Went back for the last day of that special conference to see the baby up and running again.It really is a beautiful system.
Click to expand...

Yeah but as that old saying goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." It's a good thing millions of folks disagree with you about Flea erum E-Bay LOL!
 
Donnie27 said:
It'd go straight to EBay. There are AMD Green-hearted Guys who love to have it. Why deprive them of their Dream System? Helping one of these folks' dream come true is the Honorable thing to do ;)
Click to expand...

I hate to disagree with you, but to draw on analogy: Dogs love the smell of antifreeze yet you can't let them lap it up because it causes kidney failure. (It's only anecdotal that most antifreeze is green.) The point is that sometimes we might all be drawn to things that are detrimental and we should be restrained. It's the only humane thing to do. :p ;)

On a serious side, I did a bit of investigation the other day. Basically I compared the prices to build a system with Intel's Quad core vs AMD's Quad FX. Mind you AMD's hardware is in limbo atm, but still it was interesting. Now I won't elaborate, because AMD's parts are not really on the market yet, but AMD Quad FX is going to require a much more expensive power supply. So even if AMD prices it's pair of CPUs for less than Intel's Quad-core, once you buy the other parts required it will still cost more. Which I find more than simply ironic.
 
Cannydog said:
I hate to disagree with you, but to draw on analogy: Dogs love the smell of antifreeze yet you can't let them lap it up because it causes kidney failure. (It's only anecdotal that most antifreeze is green.) The point is that sometimes we might all be drawn to things that are detrimental and we should be restrained. It's the only humane thing to do. :p ;)

On a serious side, I did a bit of investigation the other day. Basically I compared the prices to build a system with Intel's Quad core vs AMD's Quad FX. Mind you AMD's hardware is in limbo atm, but still it was interesting. Now I won't elaborate, because AMD's parts are not really on the market yet, but AMD Quad FX is going to require a much more expensive power supply. So even if AMD prices it's pair of CPUs for less than Intel's Quad-core, once you buy the other parts required it will still cost more. Which I find more than simply ironic.
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I hate to disagree with you, but I certainly would not build myself a quad cpu enabled kentsfield without future proofing myself with a nice big 1000watt power supply in case I wanted to run two dx10 cards and a couple of drives, and wanted to overclock the beast too.

I do agree with you that building a Quad FX will probably cost me more, but not as much as you would initailly think especially as I now know the fx72 clocks to 3ghz at least, and possibly the fx70 does too.
 
Martyr said:
not much beyond 3ghz though, which kinda sucks
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Yeah it does a bit but we always have barcelona to look forward too, and that should overclock well.And although we will have HT3 by then, this system should fly along nicely with ht1 and barcelona/agena.
 
Mofoman said:
Yeah it does a bit but we always have barcelona to look forward too, and that should overclock well.And although we will have HT3 by then, this system should fly along nicely with ht1 and barcelona/agena.
Click to expand...
well ide wait and see
 
Martyr said:
well ide wait and see
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By the time most of the parts are available, there should be some hard info on the other processors, I expect AMD to really post a glut of info after the release of the r600.I just get a feeling they are holding back until they have all their eggs in one basket to show.
 
Cannydog said:
I hate to disagree with you, but to draw on analogy: Dogs love the smell of antifreeze yet you can't let them lap it up because it causes kidney failure. (It's only anecdotal that most antifreeze is green.) The point is that sometimes we might all be drawn to things that are detrimental and we should be restrained. It's the only humane thing to do. :p ;)

On a serious side, I did a bit of investigation the other day. Basically I compared the prices to build a system with Intel's Quad core vs AMD's Quad FX. Mind you AMD's hardware is in limbo atm, but still it was interesting. Now I won't elaborate, because AMD's parts are not really on the market yet, but AMD Quad FX is going to require a much more expensive power supply. So even if AMD prices it's pair of CPUs for less than Intel's Quad-core, once you buy the other parts required it will still cost more. Which I find more than simply ironic.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you for the most part about Dogs

The reason it'd go straight to E-Bay is because I could then use the money to build a **Better Kentsfield system LOL and still have money left over. It could be a Drop-in replacement of my Current E6600:) I agree, Even building from the Ground up, Kentsfield is easier on the wallet. There are very few sites telling their readers to buy this Dog or Frankin-Computer as some are calling it. Many, not all clearly even reject the buy now and wait for K8L argument.

Big Case and noise.
Large Power Supply.
Twice as much high quality RAM.
Limited overclocking.
Higher electric bills but save on heating bills.
Not as fast as one Quad Intel system with *Normal supported system.

Before this is seen as an AMD Bash, I already said a good quality Opteron 2 X system might be a better option:)

*Requires normal ATX
**Kentsfield is faster 80% of the time according ALL of the sites combined.
 
Nobody is denying you have a point Donnie, but saying the Quad Fx is not a powerful computer that is not worth anyone building one is just nonsense.

Fair enough, if you like Intel, and wish to build a kentsfield, it's your perogative, and I have no doubt I will have an intel computer built by the end of next year as well so I can have the best of both worlds.
 
Mofoman said:
Nobody is denying you have a point Donnie, but saying the Quad Fx is not a powerful computer that is not worth anyone building one is just nonsense.

Fair enough, if you like Intel, and wish to build a kentsfield, it's your perogative, and I have no doubt I will have an intel computer built by the end of next year as well so I can have the best of both worlds.
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No, I didn't say it wasn't powerful, I said it wasn't as fast, used too much power, gave off too much heat, costs too much, and etc.. I didn't say it wasn't powerful:) "Not as fast as one Quad Intel system." The Quad NOT native core Kentsfield is faster overall, runs cooler, uses less power, runs most apps faster, costs lees overall and etc.....Buying 4 X 4 is NOT the best deal IMHO. So please try that on someone else?

It's not about who or what I like but this thing not being the best option. I can't wait for K8L and their improved Dual Core versions that will follow. When all is said and done, it's the Dual Versions that has my eye. If they have the Price to performance I'm gotten use to with AMD, I'd be one it like a fat man on a Ham:) After a shaky start my 3500+ has served me well and I'm looking at an Sc- 939 Opteron 165 or 170 right now to replace it. I can be tagged whatever you guys feel like tagging me, but my wallet knows better. I want to see and buy what's good for me, not AMD or Intel.
 
Does anyone have any clue, where I can get these parts before january.I have the cash now for the board and a processor, so I am looking to buy right away.

IF anyone can sell me them or has access to buying them can you let me know.

Thanks

Rich
 
Hmm, wonder where are all the posters who claimed paper launch with the conroe (it wasn't) now?

NOt sure but I thought the official word was it won't be available until January, so unless you have a hookup, you're out of luck.
 
Yeah this was not a complete launch at all, it was only a launch for a couple of outrageously priced pc builders.I could build three for the price some of them are charging.

I am so, so desperate to get my Quadfather built too.

I think it is going to be one hell of a unique system once I have finished.Obviously I'm going to try and overclock the bihattch to it's fullest too.
 
Do you think a board with an ATI chipset will be in the mix in the near future that will support QUAD FX? This one sports the Nvidia chipset, will ASUS or any other manufacturer make one with an ATI chipset?
 
I sort of saw this forum late, but anyway. I run a X6800 cpu right now, with 2 8800gtx's. and just recently bought a quad fx board also for a buddy that is doing a server type setup, after reading all th posts here about power usage. let me tell you. if you are running 2 graphics cards as i am. it's a pig on power no matter which setup you use amd or intel. so from my point of view as i've seen the 2 systems running side my side pretty much. the power usage is almost the same. heat wise anyway. my buddy is running a 1000w psu on the quad fx and i'm running 850w psu with a thermaltake 250w for the video cards, and my rig is sucking it down hard. i don't have a way to actually measure the power usage between the 2 rigs but both are capable of heating up my room pretty nice, and hell in winter it's saving on the heating bill :D
 
trunner said:
I sort of saw this forum late, but anyway. I run a X6800 cpu right now, with 2 8800gtx's. and just recently bought a quad fx board also for a buddy that is doing a server type setup, after reading all th posts here about power usage. let me tell you. if you are running 2 graphics cards as i am. it's a pig on power no matter which setup you use amd or intel. so from my point of view as i've seen the 2 systems running side my side pretty much. the power usage is almost the same. heat wise anyway. my buddy is running a 1000w psu on the quad fx and i'm running 850w psu with a thermaltake 250w for the video cards, and my rig is sucking it down hard. i don't have a way to actually measure the power usage between the 2 rigs but both are capable of heating up my room pretty nice, and hell in winter it's saving on the heating bill :D
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No, they don't use the same amount of power. The Intel system also gives off less heat, is faster in most apps and even is less noisier. Yes two 8800GTX's are power hogs. The folks who can measure them have and they have spoken. Even *most AMD friendly sites say 4 X 4 isn't worth it.
 
4x4 might possibly be worth if if all the hype we're hearing about AMD's quad (40% over Clovertown) is true, but even then it will suck down power like no other...
 
i always see the 4x4 platform as a way for AMD to pave the road for Barcelona drop-ins.

the quad platform as it is now as good an investment as Clovertown.
 
Deliximus said:
i always see the 4x4 platform as a way for AMD to pave the road for Barcelona drop-ins.

the quad platform as it is now as good an investment as Clovertown.
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But then platforms launched with Barkie will have HT3 and DDR3 support. Who'll want the old slower boards? :D RIGHT now you can buy a Dual Socket Intel board today + 2 QC-Xeons and get 8 cores.
 
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