CPU for new Rig: Intel Conroe vs. AMD

[sektor]

Hope I am not beating a dead horse here and i've held off opening a topic trying to do my own research. However, I have a few questions i'm still iffy on.

All reports seem that the new Conroe CPU from Intel will blow doors on any CPU out there, including getting top marks for Gaming. Which is great because I need to build a new rig as my current one is 2 1/2 years old and i'm anxious to start playing some of the new games.

Some questions though:

1.) What type of availability will these new CPU's have? I read somewhere that it might be hard to get one because Dell, HP and the sorts will get the first shipments which would make it hard to get one of these CPU.

2.) There are 4 Conroe chips coming out? THey start at $200 and go all the way to $500+. Realistically, I would think, to get gaming marks, you would need to go with one of the 4M cache CPU's, correct?

3.) Anyone have an idea on how much the motherboards would cost for these new CPU's? What about memory? Will the memory cost more?

Right now, everything points to Intel's Conroe.

BUT....there are also going to be some HUGE price cuts on AMD CPU's next month. Which brings to my next question.

If I decided to go the AMD route (for whatever reasons) what AMD CPU should I shoot for?

I appreciate the feedback.

SeKtOr

 

[RichPLS]

The only sources I have seen reporting shortages initially of Conroe are shakira and MMM like fanboi sites... Intel has been mass producing Conroe for launch for a couple of weeks now... and I believe I have heard yeilds are good...
I would be surprized if major vendors/retailers do not have stock within a week of launch...

As for AMD, well, the FX-62 is 20% slower, has nowhere near the overclocking potential, runs hotter and uses more energy, plus costs at least $300+ more than Conroe, and that is after the first wave of price cuts...

 

[sektor]

The only sources I have seen reporting shortages initially of Conroe are shakira and MMM like fanboi sites... Intel has been mass producing Conroe for launch for a couple of weeks now... and I believe I have heard yeilds are good...
I would be surprized if major vendors/retailers do not have stock within a week of launch...

That's good news. Any particular model on these conroe leads the pack for choosing?

As for AMD, well, the FX-62 is 20% slower, has nowhere near the overclocking potential, runs hotter and uses more energy, plus costs at least $300+ more than Conroe, and that is after the first wave of price cuts...

Makes no sense as to buy this CPU. Would only make sense if it was $100+ bucks cheaper than conroe. Confusing. :roll:

 

[RichPLS]

Basically, Conroe is debuting with prices from $215 to $530...
Pick what you can afford, and all will smoke similarly priced AMD chips...

 

[infernojericho]

In case you are interested, the following is the benchmark results for Core 2 Extreme x6800 vs AMD's Flagship FX-62

The site's in Chinese, it is from hkepc, which is a Hong Kong computer enthusiaist site, and is very credible.

Besides, it's only benchmark figures anyway so I don't think you guys would have any problems on understanding it.

Performance
http://www.hkepc.com/hwdb/x6800vsfx62-10.htm

Temperature
http://www.hkepc.com/hwdb/x6800vsfx62-11.htm

Using ATI's X1900's Crossfire
http://www.hkepc.com/hwdb/x6800vsfx62-12.htm

Seems like Conroe has beat FX62 by a mile, it runs much faster, and much cooler. In the site above it mentioned that it only could run with just a fan and the heatsink is not neccessary.

By the way, if you are for gaming, I believe although the Conroe has 4M of cache, games today won't take advantage of it, they only use around 2MB. (I could be wrong)

If I were you, I'd wait for AMD to slash prices first. Here's the price list of the processors:
http://www.hkepc.com/hwdb/x6800vsfx62-7.htm

Hope it helps!!!

 

[sektor]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate. The benchmarks are hard to ignore and it really seems like the Conroe could be just the CPU to keep a very good system for a long time. Spend the extra money now and enjoy the system for a looonnnngggg time.

I'll keep my eye on prices as far as AMD is concerned.

On the Conroe side, i'm keeping my eye on the: E6600 for about $300

I'll hold off on buying anything at all right now. Who knows; maybe video cards and memory prices will drop as well.

Thanks.

 

[YO_KID37]

Basically, Conroe is debuting with prices from $215 to $530...
Pick what you can afford, and all will smoke similarly priced AMD chips...

Your Comment is so funny at first. Only one year ago if you had said this (before Core duo- Core 2 Duo) benchmarks. The entire fourm would have laughed. But seeing Core duo And Core 2 Duo benchmarks your pretty much right on point now because the Core 2 Duo "conroe" launch is'nt very far off. And yay I'm getting a CNR-XE6800 as a gife. and have another 800$ for something now or wait unil i build it up to 2500$ or 3000$ to get a K8L 4X4 with 2-4 Cores=8

 

[geralt]

The only sources I have seen reporting shortages initially of Conroe are shakira and MMM like fanboi sites... Intel has been mass producing Conroe for launch for a couple of weeks now... and I believe I have heard yeilds are good...

Do not forget fanboi site daily tech claiming 25% conroe production for xmas.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=787

 

[Ycon]

There will be broad availability right from the first few days after the launch.

 

[windego]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate. The benchmarks are hard to ignore and it really seems like the Conroe could be just the CPU to keep a very good system for a long time. Spend the extra money now and enjoy the system for a looonnnngggg time.

I'll keep my eye on prices as far as AMD is concerned.

On the Conroe side, i'm keeping my eye on the: E6600 for about $300

I'll hold off on buying anything at all right now. Who knows; maybe video cards and memory prices will drop as well.

Thanks.

I'm interested in the E6600 also. It's just on the 4mb cache threshold. I was also hoping a new nvidia card would be out before i build system in july/august.

 

[Frank_M]

The only sources I have seen reporting shortages initially of Conroe are shakira and MMM like fanboi sites... Intel has been mass producing Conroe for launch for a couple of weeks now... and I believe I have heard yeilds are good...
I would be surprized if major vendors/retailers do not have stock within a week of launch...

Well... I hope you're right.

A high end 975x will run about 200-230 bucks, but the one I am keeping an eye out for is the one with the ATI chipset... rumors are floating around about a 130-150 buck MB.

Yes, I found an interesting article on the xpress3200 with sb600 somewhere that said it has huge overclocking potential, with separate overclocking for the fsb and the memory, but unfortunately I haven't found that article again. However, this would be their top-of-the-line mobo. There should be cheaper ones, too, the nforce 570 might be around or even under that price point.

 

[geralt]

There will be broad availability right from the first few days after the launch.

Could you provide the link for a such claim?

 

[Artmic]

Isn't woodcrest coming out first this month?
If so then all we have to do is watch its release and how long it takes for Dell/HP to offer them and how long from there it takes for other component resellers to have them...

My own gut feeling is that DELL/HP types should have them 3-5 days after the official release date (at the latest) and the smaller resellers should have them 2 weeks later at the most. OK lets see if my crystal ball was right, lol