AMD Zambezi news, info, fans !

[savantu]

Did the Lab51 guys have access to all this stuff that JF-AMD pointed out in his FAQ?

AMD marketing was doing damage control while they were busy tunning the ecosystem to get a few % more.

Not sure if OS optimize and app with the latest flags would make a big difference, but who knows.

Q. I saw a benchmark on xyz website. Is that how bulldozer will perform?A. No. Nothing posted before launch will be representative of actual performance. To get actual performance, you need:

Final production silicon
Final processor microcode
Final system BIOS
Final OS optimizaitons
Final drivers

Launch is tomorrow. Who's fault is it if the whole chain isn't ready ? It's like buying the latest BMW and the sales guy will tell you " Well, we promised 300bhp and 40mpg, but since the latest software stack for the ECU isn't ready, you'll get only 150 bhp and 20 mpg until sometime next year when we'll fix it. Peace man." Imagine this to happen to you.

An app compiled with the latest flags

Yeah, who cares about x86 compatibility. Let's just ask all the SW vendors to recompile their apps for the new CPU with 10^-27 market share.

A person who understands the app and configures the test properly

That to me equals sleazy tactics. "Configure the test properly" = choose the settings and scenarious which will put BD in the best light.
Rumours has it that AMD will force reviewers to use predefined SW and limit their resolution choices to very high details where CPU differences are masked by the GPU bottleneck.

Without these things (and there are probably more), you cannot get an accurate benchmark. Any extrapolation of a crappy benchmark gives you a crappy estimate of actual performance. Period.

You're average Joe user will make sure he has the latest silicon, latest microcode, latest BIOS, all the OS patches, drivers are latest, beta if possible, ask the ISV to recompile all his apps starting with Angry Birds and will read the 300 page BD optimization handbook that AMD will supply for free with each CPU. Only then, he'll start using his PC for his day to day activities and be completely satisfied.