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Zambesi (Bulldozer) - 2 Questions

Gandeh

Gandeh

Gandeh

Associate
Joined
21 Jul 2011
Posts
545
Hey fellas,

this question is for those smart folk amongst us who have not crumbled to the tempting BF3 beta and are still holding out for the new processors. (never thought I'd be one of them)


-Firstly

Where should I be checking for news of Zambesi going on sale?

So far I've been visiting these forums and looking on OC for it to be listed and also the AMD website.. But that seems rather inefficient. When it gets announced officially where will it pop up first? I need somewhere to check every day!


-Secondly

The processor I'm going to buy is for a gaming rig, so I want it to be quick! I know there are no benchmarks but considering that I don't really have a limit to my budget which Zambesi would you go for? I am aware there is no real solid evidence of benchmarks or how effective overclocking will be but bearing in mind I want the best one for gaming and that I would be willing to overclock it slightly (don't want to go crazy as I'm inexperienced). With all that in mind and based on the information available, what one would you go for?


I've been looking at these specs - http://im.tech2.in.com/gallery/2011/jul/amdprocessors_271202103961.jpg

But I'm slightly confused as I'm an utter noob when it comes to processors. But I can see that the Core Freq is higher on the ones with fewer cores however this does not mean that they are faster correct? because the ones with more cores will presumably be? Ahhhhhh! Confusion!


Anyway, when they are released I want to buy one then and there before the benchmarks as I've been waiting a while and really need them for BF3.

So baring in mind this is for high performance gaming and it's going on a 990fx asus sabertooth board, which one would you pick?
 
Am I right to assume you think that some uber geeks will get their hands on them early and we'll have benchmarks soon? Before release?
 
Gandeh said:
Am I right to assume you think that some uber geeks will get their hands on them early and we'll have benchmarks soon? Before release?
Click to expand...

I'd expect benchmarks on the 12th from legit sources, possibly before from "uber geeks" from stores that break release date.
Although, I expect the 2500k to still be the best choice for gaming.
 
Gandeh said:
Out of interest why does the 2500k - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-368-IN out perform the AMD 3.7 for gaming - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-304-AM
Click to expand...

Because it's a much faster CPU. Better architecture means more instructions per clock so you get more done in each clock cycle. It'll also overclock an extra ~500 MHz on average compared to the Phenom II.

Gandeh said:
And why is it you think the intel will still beat the Bulldozers for gaming purposes?
Click to expand...

Well the instructions per clock of Zambezi is probably still going to be lower than that of Sandy Bridge (i5-2500K/i7-2600K), so it'll only be faster in applications that can take advantage of the extra cores, like video encoding. Games are becoming more multi-threaded all the time though so in a year or two, having a slower 8-core will probably be more beneficial than having a faster 4-core.

pmc25 said:
The best thing to do is wait 7 days. Then you'll have real info rather than casual speculation.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
 
That's a very informative answer thank you.

It does strike me though that I would probably use a processor for 2-3 years and then replace it. So by the time the 8c is becoming useful there will probably be better options coming out? Is that a fair assessment or do you think it's too to say.

If that is more or less accurate then it seems that a Sandy Bridge would be by far the best option
 
Gandeh said:
That's a very informative answer thank you.

It does strike me though that I would probably use a processor for 2-3 years and then replace it. So by the time the 8c is becoming useful there will probably be better options coming out? Is that a fair assessment or do you think it's too to say.

If that is more or less accurate then it seems that a Sandy Bridge would be by far the best option
Click to expand...

Since we don't really know how the various Bulldozer variants perform, but will in a week, it's not really accurate at all. We shall see. Since almost everyone here is likely to overclock, overclocking room (as well as baseline performance) will be a big factor.
 
Then one more week I shall wait! After which I can bug you all with the question "What's the best processor for gaming performance?" :P.


Thanks for all the answers
 
pmc25 said:
Since we don't really know how the various Bulldozer variants perform, but will in a week, it's not really accurate at all. We shall see. Since almost everyone here is likely to overclock, overclocking room (as well as baseline performance) will be a big factor.
Click to expand...

Is the AMD fan tactic to "Hope for the best?"
 
DragonQ said:
Well the instructions per clock of Zambezi is probably still going to be lower than that of Sandy Bridge (i5-2500K/i7-2600K), so it'll only be faster in applications that can take advantage of the extra cores, like video encoding. Games are becoming more multi-threaded all the time though so in a year or two, having a slower 8-core will probably be more beneficial than having a faster 4-core.
Click to expand...

but in a year or two intel will have released cpu's with as many cores and even higher clocks so i dont think this forward-thinking is suitable
 
Depends how long you intend on keeping a PC for...

I expected mine to last until at least 2013 when I bought it (CPU/motherboard/GPU, RAM is unimportant cos it's so cheap). I have the opportunity to upgrade for free though so I'll obviously take that at some point but if I wasn't I'd probably be upgrading to Haswell or something eventually.
 
Last edited:
pmc25 said:
All your projections are uninformed speculation, as with everyone else.

I'm no fan of AMD. I'd just never buy from Intel.
Click to expand...
Im the same 1 reason is i like to help the company that maybe not doing as well.
And i have a milk man and dont buy it from the supermarket.
 
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