Conroe - Worth the wait?

[Monstermunch]

Just wanted to ask, from what i've read they appear to be about 20% faster than the FX60 (clocked). But the AM2 finished article I believe is still yet to be seen.

The main concerns I have about waiting for the conroe are the following:

Mobo's - twice the price of a good nF4
- Lack of support/competition of good ones

Ram - Stupid money for a fast latency DDR2 capable of 1000mhz!

At least with skt939 you know where you stand in terms of price and available equipment!

 

[Monstermunch]

I am not sure what you are saying. Your points are valid, but isn't this the same thing with.. well, every advancement?

Do we know how much a Conroe motherboard will cost?

All thing being equal I know new tech is always at a premium especially straight after it's release. I'm just looking at the current hardware support for pentium D's etc. Mobo's seem to start where the most expensive AMD boards stop!

Not just that but as I understand AM2 will only support up to 800mhz, whereas conroe will be 1000mhz - good speed ram at 1000mhz will cost a bomb!

 

[Monstermunch]

Conroe is worth it, until AMD bring out a new CPU (After AM2) AM2 is just a socket 939 running DDR2, their next core I imagine will be as good if not better than conroe, but it will be at least another 6 months wait I'd expect

I agree that AM2 will just be basically ddr2 to start with but you need to look at the bigger picture. AM2 is basically being introduced to pave the way for quad core etc, it hasn't been developed just for DDR2.

 

[Monstermunch]

Anyone know whether AMD's 65nm/45nm processes will be based on socket AM2 or will they be using a new socket? (hmm, sounds like Intel)

Other than that, Conroe does seem worthwhile from the benchies that we've all seen. Just look at the threads over at XS...insane performance. If I can get a CPU that slaps and spanks the FX60 for £350 then I'll be the first in the waiting line. And surely Intel are not stupid to jack up mobo prices. They'll cater for all price ranges and segments of the market. They know that not everyone can afford a £200 mobo.

Yes AM2 is/was planned for 65nm by Dec '06 with the Quad core being in sight shortly afterwards. They are then talking about 8 x core in late 2007/early 2008 when the 45nm is available.

Regarding the prices of the mobo's etc, it just annoys me to think that in most respects the rd580 and the nF4 boards are more complex than current intels as I understand, but the intel boards are still £50-£100 more.

If the conroe will be £350ish (which I seriously doubt) then I may consider providing mobo's and ram are sensible, otherwise with system cost I may aswell have bought an FX60!