[Leaplist] [Hardware] Socket-AM2+ mainboard for $45 - $20 rebate at NewEgg ...

[Bryan J. Smith]

From: Damien McKenna <damien at mc-kenna.com>

> A pretty detailed review:
> http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3638
> It's an *awesome* chip because:
> * Multiple cores, great for multi-taskers,

I was honestly wondering when they'd drop the L3 from
a new, entry-level 4-core product to get the transistor
count down and yields up at a commodity price.

The L3 is great for servers and workstations.  Clock is
great for gaming.  But just cores and some speed is solid
for multitasking.

> * Crazy price,

Again, see transistor count.  It's basically 40% of the L3
models.

> * Compatible with both current generation motherboards and older ones

Yep.

It is definitely supported on AM2+ (DDR2) and AM3 (DDR3) platforms.
And it should work on most AM2 (DDR2) as well.

The AM2+ was designed with future needs in-mind while the market
transitions to DDR3 from DDR2.  But it was still AM2 with some voltage
and other features made "ready" for Processor 10h (Barcelona).

So Barcelona will work on AM2.  It just might not be as power efficient
with the railings, and without a BIOS update, some features may not
work or need to be disabled.  E.g., Cool'n Quiet support might have
issues because of changes.

I've regularly run newer AMD products in older mainboards and they work,
and they work well.  I just can't expect everything to work with the latest
features advertised.

> Put it together, you can go super-cheap on a discounted previous
> generation mobo

Well, even AM2+ is cheap.  It's more like you don't have to rip out a
mainboard if you don't want to.  In all honesty, I'm getting old and I
really don't like ripping out a board and putting in a new one, or even
just a new one in a new case.

Of course, I haven't done that for years now, and got rid of quite a
bit of my desktop hardware.  I've been mobile since 2006 and only
made the mistake of assembling again in late 2007 never to use it
much at all.

> and get tremendous bang for the buck, or go for the latest 'n greatest,
> still give yourself tremendous bang for the buck *and* more upgrade
> potential down the road.
> An amazing combination.
> Seems like AMD is back to their old strengths - slightly better CPU at
> a much better price coupled with better motherboards.

I don't think AMD ever left that space.  Their mainboards have always
been cheaper, with more I/O and lower power.  It's just that some people
focus on CPU only and get so pigeon-holed on it that they miss a lot of
what AMD has to offer.

And despite what people may think, AMD still rules the FPU when you're
actually using the FPU and not SIMD.  Not every SIMD instruction gives
the same precision as the FPU, and that's an issue with several ops.
Or in some cases, AMD does do a couple of SIMD operations better,
because the FPU is involved anyway for the required precision, and
AMD's 3-issue is superior.


-- 
Bryan J  Smith           Professional, Technical Annoyance 
Linked Profile:         http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith 
---------------------------------------------------------- 
Red Hat:  That 'other' American software company built on
open customer selection of options and value, instead of
controlled distribution channels of forced bundle and lock


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