King of AMD CPUs

I wonder what they're going to do when Nehalem becomes mainstream later this year. I don't think they have another core in the pipeline this year. I just wish they can compete so that Intel can't ramp up prices.

Erm, a further 2 cores maybe.

Depends on whether Charlie is reliable about the 6 core product coming to the server platform soon. They could easily push out a few 6 core products for high end desktop too.

Phenom II X4 955BE meows

The Hardware Canucks link points to an EVGA X58 mobo review.

i dont see how its totally good value, its not really a cheaper platform than a core 2 quad CPU, P45 board and DDR2 memory. in fact a good AM3 790G board is around 150 pounds, dont expect to see comparable performance against core 2 with just with ddr2 memory.

then you have core i7. check the latest board prices- some are now under 150 pounds. you can get a giga UD3R for around 155, and that is a solid board. you can get a core i7 920 for 230 pounds. considering both platforms arent what you would call cheap anyway - talking 350 plus pounds. another 30-40 quid thats just ten percent or so, for the intel setup that is still considerably quicker even at stock is in my opinion, a no brainer. thats without factoring overclocking. the poorest i7 sample will do 3.6ghz on air, goodness knows you would have to find well over 4ghz for the BE edition to get close again.

this is yet again, an attractive proposition for those on the german team wanting an incremental upgrade. but for people who want a new platform, its still difficult to look past core i7, especially with the latest board prices.

When Intel Announces New Platform, it takes Years & Years to Incorporate it. Bloomfield Is Good Example, From Dunnington 2.4 billion tranistor Unit, It archetecture Has Also Graced Nehalem. Thats NOT All, There i7 BloomField, Too. Just out. So to Get Bloomfield Up for dunnington Olympiad, Softer Entries Are Made & Digested.

Finally At End of ALL That Comes AMD, Striks Out Bunch of Goob eng & Better quality from High Qual Part supposed to Emerge. At Least Cost Has Decreased.

In End, Its NOT That Bad of System. Look at x86, Who thinks Nvidia will be able to survive at 16 bit lenght, while iA 64 with 32 bit plus 8 bits of wrapper is So Qual oriented to Future. SomeDay someone might cook up 64 bit string with 8 bit wrapper, like server lenght, just packed with code to brink.

AMD Flexes & Anticapates, Its Worth It To Support AMD. Nvidia has Had some Grace Saving chipsets, Including w/ Vistas' Graphic Core drop to 100 then 150 then 200 & now finally back with new 300 entry level. Smooth. Each has own job. Including Nvidia. drashek

I don't get it half of you people posting on here seem to be Intel fanboys for sure.

Just look at the benchmark here -
http://www.techspot.com/review/162-amd-phenom2-x4-955/page3.html

955 easily beats the Q9650.

940 is almost equal to Q9650.

Take this into account that -
These chips are compatible with AM2+ motherboards.

I'm using a E7200+ G33 chipset now.

I'm gonna get myself a AM2+ motherboard supporting DDR2 put in my old X2 3600+ Athlon & save up for this 955.

Next year I can just upgrade to a new AM3 motherboard if I want too.

Look at the Intel example now.
My current motherboard does overclock to 1600 MHz FSB. Check.

It DOES Not have PCI-E 2.0.

Only the GM45 series from Intel have PCI-E 2.0 support.

Those are just half-assed. Gigabyte(the only motherboards I buy) have only 1 G45 based chipset running at full PCI-3 x16 2.0.

All in all jumping to AMD makes most of the sense. You're more future proof & are not making a hole in your pocket.

955 BE is NOT faster than Q9650. but that aside, AMD users just lap up this idea of incremental upgrades, without realising overall they are dropping as much money if not more over an extended space of time when then may as well buy a single intel platform all at once, like core i7. the guy above for example is going to buy TWO different motherboards, and then ddr3 RAM later just to support an phenom X4 processor!!! mad. you may as well save that money wasted on two different boards and the money intended for ddr3 later and buy a core i7 a bit later in time instead which is easily faster.

i used to upgrade incrementally too, but i realised what a massive waste of money it actually was - you only end up spending more over a length of time that you would waiting and buying everything you wanted in one go

acording to the web site Jay linked "The Phenom II X4 955 was for the most part faster than the Core 2 Quad Q9650 and best of all it's substantially cheaper at $245."

From what i've seen of the benchmarks this sounds true.

I dont know where you get this, faster intel system for the same money. Its not what I see. For a board/cpu upgrade intel's core2 systems are more $, not as fast or par. I7 boards are crazy money (why thought the memory controller was on cpu ;)and the lowest end i7 is more $ then anything AMD.

Unless you compare matx boards to super deluxe boards and mess around like that I dont see how intel is the same price for more performance.

I'd like to clarify what I said before.

I'm Not going to buy another AM3 motherboard pretty soon.

For me it is just an added bonus that the 955 BE runs on both AM2+ & AM3 platforms.

I'm the biggest bang-for-buck guy...Price is always a BIG factor for me.

Also, I'm not from US or UK. So DDR3 is hell expensive where I stay (India).

Switching to DDR3+Motherboard will surely be next year for me.

This 955 BE is my added bonus...If Phenoms do remain competitive in the future. I can always slap this in a new mobo+RAM combo & later upgrade the processor.

Exactly what I'm gonna do now. Get an AM2+ mobo & put in my X2 3600+ use it for 1 or 2 months then get the 955 BE.

If Intel tharshes AMD again. I got nothing to loose. I'll spend on a i7 system next year.(New processor+mobo+RAM)

So spending any ammount of money now on LGA775 socket is completely pointless.

Moreover I only buy mATX boards. Never have went full ATX & never will.

So all in all this 955BE is the perfect choice I reckon coz the multiplier is unclocked as well...I'm sure @ 3.5 GHz with a stock cooler (it surely goes that far with a stock cooler) it's pretty close if nto equal to an i7 920 system with DDR3 memory.

Check out the benchmarks on AMDZone they for once are using DDR2 for 955 BE with DDR3 for i7.

According to them...there's a marginal difference in the applications I'm going to use.

I'm never going to use Valve software so that is out of the question.

Video Encoding I suppose I could wait for 5-15 seconds more.

Talking aboutgames...If it's more than 30 fps on avg. I'm more than happy.

http://www.amdzone.com/index.php/reviews/cpus/11455-phenom-ii-x4-955?start=3

That's all I can say.