Looking forward to 6 core cpu's

[Titan7171]

One of the things I want to test out with the 6 core cpu is setting affinity.

Id like to see what kind of performance were are going to get setting 4 cores to specifically and only run a game while the other 2 cores do everything else in the background.

So in other words youd have to go in and shut down all processes for 4 cores and only leave those same cores to run the game or benchmark. The other 2 cores would be shut off for the game but on for everything else.

Im interested in trying this and it should be interesting result.

[biohead]

u can't set affinity to core windows processes, atleast in xp. right?

[FlanK3r]

i think in XP u can, i have XP ...

[RoadconeTuning]

i've always wanted to do that with my quad core... have windows and other bs run on one core and whatever im using run on the other 3...

[Titan7171]

Im running vista and you can do it..........thing is with only 4 cores say in L4D2 I lose about half my FPS by going from 4 cores to 2......so with 6 cores its more than sufficient to deal with a game that needs 4 cores and have 2 doing all the other stuff in the background.........like converting music or video and other tasks.

[charged3800z24]

I wonder if AOD will support these, it should anyways. If so, then I will have loads of fun with AOD profiles. You can set apps to use cores as needed etc. I have profiles for eveything on my PC pretty much.

[Tom128]

I've setup a majority of my games with a profile to set affinity to two of my cores at 3.6Ghz and the other two seem to take care of anything else in the background at 2.6Ghz (+2 on the game cores, -3 on the others, probably over-kill but definantly stays stable at stock CPUv lol).

[demonkevy666]

Im running vista and you can do it..........thing is with only 4 cores say in L4D2 I lose about half my FPS by going from 4 cores to 2......so with 6 cores its more than sufficient to deal with a game that needs 4 cores and have 2 doing all the other stuff in the background.........like converting music or video and other tasks.

I've tried setting affinity on some games it still uses the other cores if they're there. :/

the only way to get arounbd that is to make window use only 2 cores threw that one other way.

msconfig > boot > advanced options

that way it won't actually use them

[Particle]

I've never seen anything benefit from setting affinity. AOD currently crashes when there are > 4 cores. It'll be updated, surely.

[gOtVoltage]

Same here,,

Maybe once the CPU is out and about and in our hands we might see a good program for utilizing the serperate cores for what we want to do..Who knows.


Also,,im not up date date with 6core tech .
Curiouse will there be a fututre 6core that can drop in a AM2+ Mobo or are they only AM3 part with DDR3?

It would be uber cool to get 6cores on AM2+ or Bios capable mobos..Sales would go crazy and so would we. Its just a dream

[FlanK3r]

Thuban is only for AM3 socket, not for AM2+ (at 100%)

[Oliverda]

Thuban is only for AM3 socket, not for AM2+ (at 100%)

Not really. All AM3 CPU is backward compatible with Socket AM2(+) and the X6 will be an AM3 CPU (AM3r1).

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/new...ore_thuban_cpu

[[XC] Oj101]

They're only compatible if they include a DDR2 controller onboard, which I think the hexacore doesn't. I stand to be corrected

[Nedjo]

X6 is based on new "*******Hound" core (revision), and I'm positive that you all will be amazed how great this beauty&beast will be

I'm personally more excited than I was prior to Phenom II launch

[Oliverda]

They're only compatible if they include a DDR2 controller onboard, which I think the hexacore doesn't. I stand to be corrected

I think that it is a wrong speculation. Thuban will be the Istanbul's desktop version which has the same combo IMC like Deneb.

Istanbul = Shanghai/Deneb + 2 cores and nothing more

Istanbul's stepping is D0 so I think that the Thuban will be the D2 CPU.

D0 -> D2: better scaling and some minor modifications maybe (like C2->C3)

X6 is based on new "*******Hound" core (revision), and I'm positive that you all will be amazed how great this beauty&beast will be

I'm personally more excited than I was prior to Phenom II launch

What are you talking about? Deerhound maybe?



It's better to be cautious about the Thuban because unfortunately it won't be faster than Deneb in single threaded applications. It won't contain any architectural changes. Deneb + 2 cores that's all, but at last it will be able to compete clock2clock in multi-threaded apps with quad-core i7 thanks to the more cores.

The big question is the pricing....

[Kuroimaho]

I think that it is a wrong speculation. Thuban will be the Istanbul's desktop version which has the same combo IMC like Deneb.

It's better to be cautious about the Thuban because unfortunately it won't be faster than Deneb in single threaded applications. Deneb + 2 cores that's all,

If that was the case it could be out for half a year.
That it's launch coincides with AMD's next server platform with 6 and 12 core cpus might have something to do with the dice they plan to use.
As those G34 and C32 cpus won't even fit into current sockets DDR2 memory controller is a waste, therefore it's desktop variant would need AM3 socket.

[Oliverda]

If that was the case it could be out for half a year.
That it's launch coincides with AMD's next server platform with 6 and 12 core cpus might have something to do with the dice they plan to use.

That was the case. The Istanbul die is a pretty big die (346mm2) so the manufacturing cost is pretty high. While the AMD can sell this die for $450-$1000 then they won't offer it for $300-$400. It's a simple economic reason.



The other reason is that the AMD want to launch a complete new platform (Leo) and not only a CPU.

Six-core CPU + 890 series chipset + 5800 series VGA

Unfortunately for some (unknow) reason the 800 series chipset family is slipped into 2010. I think that there was some problem with the new SB.

As those G34 and C32 cpus won't even fit into current sockets DDR2 memory controller is a waste, therefore it's desktop variant would need AM3 socket.

The DDR3+DDR3 compatibily doesn't really increase the IMC size because the two standard is very similar. So they won't design a new die to remove the DDR2 compatibility because it would be more expensive than to leave that area untouched.

[FlanK3r]

X6 is based on new "*******Hound" core (revision), and I'm positive that you all will be amazed how great this beauty&beast will be

I'm personally more excited than I was prior to Phenom II launch

[Oliverda]

"Thuban is derived from the company's existing six-core Opteron server CPU and will have an integrated DDR3 memory controller. AMD says the chip will be backward-compatible with existing AM3 and AM2+ motherboards. Rumor has it that the CPU will be outfitted with 3MB of L2 cache and 6MB of L3 cache, but clock speeds will likely be slower than current AMD quadcores because of the thermal output of the two additional cores."

source

[chew*]

I would say it's safe to say that 90% of info is speculation at best.

I would also say that 90% claiming to have said chips are either fibbing or have extremely early silicon ( etc nothing remotely close to what we will see in retail )

[Oliverda]

A little history. Same die in different package.

K8:

Socket 940: Italy
Socket 939: Toledo

Socket F: Santa Rosa
Socket AM2: Windsor

K10:

Socket F: Barcelona
Socket AM2+: Agena

K10.5 (quad-core):

Socket F: Shanghai
Socket AM3: Deneb

K10.5 (six-core):

Socket F: Istanbul
Socket AM3: Thuban

[FlanK3r]

no,no, Thuban is new die, its said JF at semiacurate think.

[Oliverda]

no,no, Thuban is new die, its said JF at semiacurate think.

I'm sure that you misunderstood him. Yeah it will be a new die because they switched on the DDR3 support and gave a new codename for it.

As you can see in my previous post the AMD has never ever developed a new desktop only "high end" die in the past. It simply doesn't worth (financially).

Anyway as JF said many times he is a server guy and he doesn't know much about the desktop and mobile products.

[Kuroimaho]

That was the case. The Istanbul die is a pretty big die (346mm2) so the manufacturing cost is pretty high. While the AMD can sell this die for $450-$1000 then they won't offer it for $300-$400. It's a simple economic reason.

So selling a 258mm2 Deneb die from 145$ is economical, but a 346mm2 for 400$ isn't.
Seems to me for simple economic reason they should be selling 6core for 400$ rather than denebs for less than half as much, BTW Intel can charge up to 562$ for the 950.
With their current server marketshare there should be capacity to drop 6 cores on the desktop.

The other reason is that the AMD want to launch a complete new platform (Leo) and not only a CPU.

Last I heard even AMD execs wouldn't buy their own platforms I doubt beside fanboys many cares. Delaying the 6 core cpus for almost a year because of this is really unlikely, especially if it goes against economic reasons. Intel tried several times to establish a platform on the desktop not many could name one, let alone AMD's.

Six-core CPU + 890 series chipset + 5800 series VGA

6 core cpu, people who buy platforms won't really need one.
890 chipset, what difference would it make over the current ones that platform buyers benefit from ? I believe close to nothing.
5800 series Vga, same as 6 core cpu, people who buy platforms most likely do fine with the IGP.

The DDR3+DDR3 compatibily doesn't really increase the IMC size because the two standard is very similar. So they won't design a new die to remove the DDR2 compatibility because it would be more expensive than to leave that area untouched.

Unless they have to touch that area because the g34 will use quad channel memory and it needs a little tweaking for optimum performance.

As you can see in my previous post the AMD has never ever developed a new desktop only "high end" die in the past. It simply doesn't worth (financially).

This is not a desktop only cpu, what you don't seem to get that this is the same die they use in the new server cpus which will launch this year and not the ones they did last year. Otherwise it would have been out last summer.

[Oliverda]

So selling a 258mm2 Deneb die from 145$ is economical, but a 346mm2 for 400$ isn't. Seems to me for simple economic reason they should be selling 6core for 400$ rather than denebs for less than half as much, BTW Intel can charge up to 562$ for the 950. With their current server marketshare there should be capacity to drop 6 cores on the desktop.

Maybe you haven't noticed the difference between the 258mm2 and 346mm2 sizes. ~90nm2 is a pretty big difference in the semiconductor manufacturing and I haven't mentioned the yield rate which is very important. Anyway the Deneb is a whole different story. They should have to cover the market with cheaper Deneb based CPUs. IMHO now they can sell many Istanbul CPUs (more than Shanghai) so they don't need to hurry to sell these dies cheaper in the desktop segment. The desktop market doesn't really need six-core CPUs yet.

BTW the Intel will release only one desktop six-core CPU at the start. i7-980X for $999. It's not accidental.

Last I heard even AMD execs wouldn't buy their own platforms I doubt beside fanboys many cares.

You better to not beleive this "heard" things. Otherwise the right wording is exec and not execs. Henri Richard (fired in 2007) supposedly wrote this sentence in an email in 2004. He was just complaining about the company's poor marketing strategy.

Delaying the 6 core cpus for almost a year because of this is really unlikely, especially if it goes against economic reasons. Intel tried several times to establish a platform on the desktop not many could name one, let alone AMD's.

I sadly see that you couldn't understand my interpretation. The desktop market does not need 6 core cpu's yet. They don't have to hurry at all.

6 core cpu, people who buy platforms won't really need one.
890 chipset, what difference would it make over the current ones that platform buyers benefit from ?

You can't see through this whole platform question. You can buy the platform in parts you don't have to buy it in a complete system.

The platforms demonstrate the company's top products in a whole unit. It has an important marketing part.

I believe close to nothing.
5800 series Vga, same as 6 core cpu, people who buy platforms most likely do fine with the IGP.

You're wrong.

Unless they have to touch that area because the g34 will use quad channel memory and it needs a little tweaking for optimum performance.

What kind of tweaking are you talking about? The G34 contains two dies in one package while the C32 contains only one from exactly the same die.



As the AMD told earlier the Magny-Cours will be two Istanbul die in one package.









source , source 2

Check this thread (and check the dates)

This is not a desktop only cpu, what you don't seem to get that this is the same die they use in the new server cpus which will launch this year and not the ones they did last year. Otherwise it would have been out last summer.

You're right...at last. The Istanbul is really not a dekstop only CPU. The Thuban will be an AM3 packaged Istanbul with the latest stepping (probably D2). That's all. You better to beleive it now otherwise you'll be disappointed later.