PCFormat Forum Archive

GreyWolf wrote:So christmas is coming and I want to buy some new hardware for my rig. Specifically I am thinking of buying and AM3 Mobo and and get some DDR3. I am confused because all the Asus AM3 mobos seem to come with only 4 slots, whereas I am sure the Intel i7 Mobos come with 6 slots. Someone please explain to me what is going on?

Jaywalker86 wrote:Tri-channel RAM on the i7 chips give you one HELLOFA memory bandwidth, but few real world apps use that level of bandwidth, so if you're a normal gamer/media person, you won't use the extra memory bandwidth nor will you really experience the speed increases that tri-channel brings. (this is all gathered from reviews ive read, and not from personal experience. Read any review about an i7 chip on either http://www.guru3d.com or http://www.tomshardware.com)

And like everyone said, AMD are sticking with dual-channel for now. Their memory controllers on their CPU's can't do tri-channel and they won't implement it for the AM3 socket series of CPU's and mobo's.

I have heard a rumour though, that they are maybe going to implement tri-channel RAM with their up-coming 6-core CPU's in early to mid 2010. But that could just be a rumour.

I was trying to determine if I should pay the extra for a Phenom II 720 or just get a Phenom II 550. The thread where I found this posted had an interesting reply, $100 for the 550 vs $1024 for the Core i7, maybe I'm missing something but how do you justify paying so much for a Core i7 rig when it's only a few frames per second faster than something that is a lot cheaper?

Clarkdale CPUs have a GPU chip next to them - that's what those two rectangles are
Tech Connect Magazine is reporting a some pricing and details of Intel’s forthcoming Clarkdale processors, rumoured to be branded Core i3. T-C mag says that German reseller HPM-Computer.de reported that the new range of CPUs will be priced from €103.90 to €252.90 and will be clocked between 2.93GHz and 3.46GHz. Those are some scary numbers if you’re AMD, as even it’s fastest CPU – the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition – struggles to keep up with Intel’s 2.66GHz Core i5-750.

The story says that there will be both Core i3 and Core i5 Clarkdale CPUs, all of which will have integrated DirectX 10 GPUs. It looks like the Core i3 range won’t have Turbo Boost while the new Core i5s will. However, the level to which these new Core i5s boost doesn’t look quite as impressive as the levels to which the Lynnfield-based Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs can achieve.

The TDPs of the chips look fairly decent at 73W for most of the CPUs, which is a consequence of the 32nm manufacturing process. However, the German reseller suggests that there will be one Core i5 with a TDP of 87W as its GPU will be clocked at 900MHz rather than the 733MHz of the rest of the range. The name of the CPU and the question mark next to its price doesn’t fill us with much confidence that this ‘Core i5-661’ will really happen.



The leaked information on Intel’s forthcoming Core i3 and Core i5 processors (codenamed Clarkdale)

We expect Clarkdale to fit into the LGA1156 socket, though we don’t yet know if it’ll be compatible with P55 motherboards. However, we have seen some performance figures for Clarkdale CPUs as well as some preview shots of a Westmere motherboard

We don't expect these CPUs to launch this year, so in the meantime all we can do is talk - are you looking forward to some budget-tastic Intel CPUs or do you think AMD will have enough to resist these new CPUs? And would you be annoyed if they weren't compatible with P55

KALSTER wrote: I'm poor.

Mystical_Titan wrote:I won two i5 boards at NamLAN over the weekend.