intel announces new cpu...

[deadrats]

...and it's a, wait for it...core 2 quad 9500:

http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-to-release-core-2-quad-q9500/7514.html?doc=7514

i just don't get it at all, lynnfield is just around the corner, early benchmarks show that clock for clock under some gaming benchmarks lynnfields are faster thanks to the integrated pci-e controller, under memory intensive benchmarks bloomfields are faster thanks to the added bandwidth of the triple channel ddr3 compared to the lynnfield's dual channel ddr3 and under most benchmarks it looks like the lynnfield is faster thanks to the more aggressive turbo mode, but no matter which way you look at it the speed difference is in the 10% range overall and even the prices of lynnfield don't seem that attractive and intel decides to release a crippled version of the Q9550, which is destined to compete against the lynnfield's in the lower end of the price spectrum.

amd is not much better with it's own plans, namely the X3 740:

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/17494

and the athlon X4 620:

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=10923

i don't get amd's reasoning either, the X3 720 is clocked at 2.8ghz, costs under $120 and has an unlocked multiplier for easy clocking to 3.2ghz via multiplier only higher if you're willing to play with the "fsb", so why would anyone choose a X3 740?

taking it a step further, the X4 620 is a quad core clocked at 2.6 ghz, basically it's supposed to be an X4 810 without the L3, though there are reports that the L3 is unlockable and the best part is that it's rumored that it will carry a price tag of $100!!!

i have to say a hundred bucks for a 2.6 ghz quad core is a very good deal, i'll probably end up picking one of these up as soon as they're released to replace my phenom 9500.

regardless, other than X4 620 it doesn't look like there's anything to get excited about cpu wise, for the foreseeable future.

[ronnylov]

Cheap quad cores is good for video encoding. Cache memory is not that important. I have heard of unlocking the fourth core on AMD Phenom II X3 (can be done with some motherboards) but I nerer heard of unlocking L3 cache.

The Lynnfield Core i5 750 is attractive I think. It is faster than AMD Phenom II 955 but the price of Core i5 750 is a little bit lower. Core i7 860 with hyperthreading is faster than 750 (maybe 10-15 %) but also more expensive. If I were buying a new computer I would probably choose Core i7 860. Or if I was on a tighter budget maybe Athlon X4.

[jman98]

For what it's worth AMD announced a 6 core CPU a few days ago, but it's incredibly expensive and not really aimed at consumers.

[RLT69]

Actually AMD launched a low-power version of its six-core Opteron processor. Its six-core Opteron processor was already out.

The low-power version consumes 40 watts.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2352212,00.asp

Opteron processors are for servers. Eventually Opteron technology filters down to the consumer line processors.

[ronnylov]

The 6 core AMD Thuban desktop processor is coming next year:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20090901145236_AMD_Readies_Thuban_Six_Core_De...Processor.html

But intel will also release the 6 core gulftown CPU.

[RLT69]

The 6 core AMD Thuban desktop processor is coming next year:

So I guess the 4x4 platform fell to the wayside??

Saving up money