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Should AMD just launch Sledgehammer on the desktop? Ed Stroglio thinks so.

http://www.overclockers.com/tips00156/

I have several problems with it.

- Larger die size. I heard 180mm^2 at MPF. (Then again, the .25u Athlon was about this size).
- Board expense. With 940 socket pins and dual channels of memory, AMD will need >=8 layer motherboard designs. The one I saw at MPF with dual Sledgehammers had 12-layers.
- Power dissipation. I know this has been argued quite a bit, but I think many should agree that Sledgehammer will be higher power than Clawhammer. Some are even claiming 80W power dissipation.

If Prescott ends up outperforming Hammer, and I think there is a definite probability for that, then AMD's higher costs are going to put them in a tough position to compete with price.

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