Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > CPUs > Are i7 bloomfield & lynnfield / phenom ii x4 future proof?

Are i7 bloomfield & lynnfield / phenom ii x4 future proof?

Forum CPU & Components : CPUs - Are i7 bloomfield & lynnfield / phenom ii x4 future proof?

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Which CPU/motherboard is the most future proof?




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jos de trol   08-13-2009 at 10:24:23 AM

My definition of future proof is:
-upgadability of the CPU
---requires availability of better cpu's obviously
---extra brownie points for similar priced cpu upgrades (e.g. no brownie points here for high end i7 bloomfield cpu's, if they stay at that price level)

-being able to keep the same motherboard without sacrificing much of the performance of the new cpu
-to a lesser extent: overclockability

I'm really stomped as to what cpu/motherboard will be the most upgradeable in the future:

-is there technology on the way from AMD that would obsolete the AM3 socket? AMD has shown itself committed to backwards compabitility in the recent past, but since the phenom ii x4 965 is not far from the technological limit of current AMD phenom ii architecture and AMD is desperatly running behind intel high end products, perhaps AMD needs a new generation of cpu's that will need a new motherboard, not compatible with AM3? Or will these motherboards serve AMD upgraded cpu's for years to come?

-the i7 lynnfield chips + 1556 socket: these guys are new kids on the block but are not meant to be top of the range intel products, so while the high end cpu's of lynnfield will probably rival or even surpass the low end i7 bloomfield they won't have much upgrade potential...? you're essentially buying into a more value/performance balanced version of the i7 bloomfield while sacrificing upgradeability (top of range 1556 socket based cpu's will never rival high end 1336 socket based cpu's)?

-the i7 bloomfield chips + 1336 socket: still the best cpu's + compatible with gulftown, seems like very good upgradability potential if you're willing to shell out the cash for it

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jimmysmitty   08-13-2009 at 10:30:44 AM
- 0 +

TBH All of them are to a point. That point depends on the change such as memory type (DDR4 which Intel plans around 2011), amount of cores or even if say newer stuff is integrated on the CPU die itself (Southbridge is next, will it be Intel or AMD first?????).

Most sockets from intel have a 5 year life time. LGA755 was out in 2004 and is still useable. AMD has a tad shorter record.

but in the end I would estimate that LGA1156/1366 will last 3-5 years and AM3 should be near 3 years. I know Westmere (32nm shrink) and even up to Sandy Bridge is planned to support LGA1156/1366 and for the known future AMD should have AM3, at least until DDR4 hits then it might be AM3+.

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fazers_on_stun   08-13-2009 at 08:24:14 PM
- 0 +

THIS could shed some light on the subject :). Looks like for oc'ers, the P2 series is not too good for 64-bit OSes which is the "future" obviously:

Quote :

We have discussed it several times and still do not have an acceptable answer from AMD about the inability of the Phenom II to clock much past 4GHz with a 64-bit operating system. Even with LN2 cooling we have not successfully benched past 4.4GHz with a 64-bit OS.

Once again, we tried XP 64-bit, Vista 64-bit, and Windows 7 64-bit and the results are always the same. As we near 4GHz, the voltage requirements increase dramatically and the clocking ability of the processor decreases in much the same manner. This does not occur in a 32-bit operating system, which happens to be the recommendation for any sort of benchmarking activities with the Phenom II.




Also from AT, the Lynnfield ES sample they oc'ed to 2.66GHz was very competitive with the new 965 X4, and cheaper to boot. AT speculates that the 965 will have to drop by ~$40 in price, since there's a Fudo rumor that Intel has already started shipping retail Lynnfields today (same day as the 965 release).

Reply to fazers_on_stun
Scotteq   08-13-2009 at 09:34:18 PM
- 0 +

Personally, I'm rather ambivalent on the subject.

I can understand it from the perspective of "...a Hobbyist who likes to tinker, so (I) need to do a lot of little things all the time in order to keep myself entertained." That gets expensive pretty quickly, so it makes a certain amount of sense to be able to do a bunch of cheap "upgrades" using the same platform. Stuff like using a $150 (65nm) processor now. Then next year spending another $150 to get the die shrink, or what have you. The benefit is an incremental increase, and the personal pleasure of ripping your rig apart and making it work again.


Amortized over time, though, it's my opinion that makes less sense. By approaching things that way and starting at the "value" level with a new build in order to stay affordable, you're handicapping yourself down the road: By the second round Moore's Law starts hitting pretty hard, after all.

I'm one of those who believes a series of smaller upgrades is more wasteful than simply going whole hog and being done with it for the next three or four years. When you decide to build, research and locate the best components within your budget. If you do the job right to begin with, by the time you're looking at major upgrades the technology will have moved on anyhow.

<shrug>

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