Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[KeithDust2000]

Revving Up : Opteron 244 with AMD-8000 and nForce3 Pro 150

This is the conclusion they´ve come to:

The Final Word
If you can't tell by now, we like the Opteron 244. While the performance on the server / workstation front is exciting, being GamePC, we're obviously very excited about the gaming potential of the Opteron family. While the Opteron doesn't give a definite lead over the Xeon 3.06 GHz/1MB in multi-processing or the Pentium 4 3.2 in single-processor operation, it sure is close on both fronts.
Like every great processor, raw performance is only a piece of the puzzle. Here are a few reasons why we're growing to like the Opteron processor.

Smoothness - We thought we were in heaven with dual channel DDR on an 800 MHz FSB with Hyper-Threading. Nevertheless, despite the improvements which Intel has made with their CPU's, AMD has one upped them with their integrated DDR memory controller, which provides incredibly low latency access to the main system memory. Combined with the processor's beastly 1MB of L2 cache, the Opteron processor gives an incredibly smooth computing experience.

Cool and Quiet - Running at a mere 1.8 GHz, the Opteron 244 model doesn't chew up nearly as much power as Intel's 3 GHz+ Pentium 4 / Xeon processors. After hours of benchmarking, we only saw the Opteron processor reach the around 95-100 degrees (F), while comparable Intel chips can easily run in the range of 130-150 (F) with stock cooling. The Opteron runs cool, and such, the cooling solutions do not have to run as loud. Intel's 3.0 and 3.2 GHz stock cooling solutions are quite noisy. AMD's copper-based stock CPU cooler is very quiet, and struck a very positive chord with us.

Price - Sure, it's expensive. In comparison to the dual Xeon 3.06 GHz/1MB chips, they're less expensive, and performance is comparable between the two. Although if you're investing in a dual processor setup, you should really examine which applications you run and which processor will run better for your particular software config. Nevertheless, AMD's recently released Opteron 144 model offers all the same performance in a 1P environment as the 244 processor, but costs around $300 less, well below the price of a Pentium 4 3.2 GHz.

AMD64 - Sure, right now it's useless, but in six months it might be. Unless you want to run a prototype Linux distribution, AMD64 is nothing more than marketing hype right now. Windows XP for AMD64 looks like it may be ready by the end of this year, but who knows how long after it will be until we have solid drivers and a large application base. Still, it’s nice to know there is the possibility of extra performance from your current processor down the road in the future.

Intel hasn’t been sitting idle all this time, as their “Prescott” processor appears to be nearing completion. If the rumors of Intel’s 0.09 architecture transition difficulties turn out to be true, AMD could have its golden opportunity to bring their company name back in line as the highest performance PC processor on the market. They have a superb processor here, and we’re very impressed with what it’s capable of.


http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=opteron244&page=1

It seems A64 will have quite a few things going for it, just like Opteron already has.