AMD Quad FX System Reviewed Using FX-74 Processors

[Apoptosis]

Today AMD has launched their Quad FX platform and for the first time is able to put four cores on a dual-socket desktop motherboard. Will AMD's long-awaited 4x4 platform have what it takes to take the performance crown from Intel's quad-core processor? Read on and take a look to see what the new FX-70 series from AMD can do!

AMD has taken a step forward when it comes to desktop performance, but one has to wonder what took Quad FX so long to come to market. It's been on the table and openly talked about since May of 2006, and why it's coming out the last week of November is beyond us. If you look through the smoke and mirrors of the marketing slides it's obvious that no new technology is on the table. The NVIDIA 680a chipset is really not much more than a couple nForce 5XX series chipsets paired together on a single board. The processors are a little different due to the new package, but that shouldn't take six months to bring to market. The end result is basically two FX-62 processors with a speed bump. Our test results showed this when we benchmarked the FX-74 against the FX-62 and the scores were basically doubled across the board.

Article Title: AMD Quad FX System Reviewed Using FX-74 Processors
Article url: http://legitreviews.com/article/425/1/

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[pastorjay]

Looks like a nice setup if you are just an AMD fanatic. My power supply coul dnot even idle the 4x4 (Antec 550HE). Their prices are nice though for the processors. They need more motherboards though, so the price gets driven down.

Must be depressing for AMD right now. New technology (not really - more like new product/old tech) and they cannot even equal Intel.

[pcrobot]

Must be depressing for AMD right now. New technology (not really - more like new product/old tech) and they cannot even equal Intel.

That's my thoughts exactly...

If they released something that owned Intel's best CPUs they'd have a better chance.

[Apoptosis]

They need more motherboards though, so the price gets driven down.

Right now it's just the ASUS L1N64-SLI WS motherboard and it will set you back $349.99, so you only have one choice for a motherboard. This might change in the future, but AMD doesn't know who else is currently making a board. i bet in 2007 we will see DAMMIT chipsets for the Quad FX platform.

[DeusEx]

if i had a choice i would probably buy intel. i know many people choose amd because its considered the underdog, but i dont care what name it has on it as long as it performs better.

[Apoptosis]

i dont care what name it has on it as long as it performs better.

Amen

[DallasTexas]

"..Legit Bottom Line: Quad FX has arrived and closes the performance gap between AMD and Intel.."

Nice setup and work but how can you possibly conclude this close the performance gap? I suppose it's all subjective but sheesh, the Intel rig creams this AMD rig and still dissipates less power - by alot?

I guess you got to keep your AMD fans from exploding.

[Apoptosis]

"..Legit Bottom Line: Quad FX has arrived and closes the performance gap between AMD and Intel.."

Nice setup and work but how can you possibly conclude this close the performance gap? I suppose it's all subjective but sheesh, the Intel rig creams this AMD rig and still dissipates less power - by alot?

I guess you got to keep your AMD fans from exploding.

HAHA... Well I wrote that looking at the previous gap... The Quad FX FX-74 system performs better than the previous FX-62 and doubles the performance in some cases -- for that reason AMD has closed the performance gap. Trust me I know Kentsfield walked away the winner and my electric bill and room temperature thanks Intel for that one

Oh and welcome to the forums!

[DallasTexas]

I look forward to participating in this forum and looking at your reviews. It's exciting to see that the CPU is interesting again.

I see your point about this system closing the gap with a previous system.

At the risk of alienating the good AMD fans in here, this system is sorta a like a Hummer. It's not particularly the fastest, a bit ugly, expensive and not energy efficient. However, it can tow 24 SATA hard drives and a ton of USB webcams