X-bit labs

AMD Unveils Dual-Processor Enthusiast Platform.

Category: CPU

by Anton Shilov

[ 11/30/2006 | 07:57 AM ]

In an attempt to offer the most powerful personal computing platform available, Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday introduced its new Quad FX platform that users server technologies to offer consumers the unbeatable performance. But while this is not the first time when server technologies are proposed for gaming, is the new platform as good as AMD promises it to be?

“The emergence of a dual-socket consumer platform is critical for enthusiasts who demand systems that offer the sheer power and system headroom to let the enthusiast configure this system to his or her heart’s content, and launch a fleet of entertainment and productivity applications at once,” said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president, desktop division, AMD.

The new Quad FX platform that was earlier named 4x4 and Quad Father requires two specially designed dual-core AMD Athlon 64 FX-70-series processors in LGA1207 packaging as well as a special mainboard that has two sockets for the chips. The Quad FX platform gives users the power of four processing engines, the same amount as Intel Corp. offers with its Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 microprocessor.

“AMD is redefining performance by enabling our customers to take advantage of the amazing megatasking capability of two AMD Athlon 64 FX-70 series processors in the AMD Quad FX Platform,” Mr. Brewer added.

In order to built a Quad FX system, end-users need AMD Athlon 64 FX-70/72/74 processors, Asus L1N64-SLI WS mainboard, a high-end power supply unit, four DDR2 memory modules, large computer case and so on. The Quad FX systems are meant only for hardcore performance enthusiasts, as mainstream users will hardly like the system that has two processor fans and extreme power consumption. However, even the hardcore performance enthusiasts may not bite the new platform, as its performance does not seem to be higher than that of competing Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700-based personal computer.

“AMD Quad FX platform turned out far from what we have expected. […] The performance of a dual-processor platform built with two dual-core Athlon 64 FX processors turned out lower than that of the competitor’s solutions built on quad-core Kentsfield CPUs. We have seen this in all test applications throughout the entire session,” said Ilya Gavrichenkov, X-bit labs’ microprocessors and platforms analyst, in his article titled “Quad-Core from AMD: Quad FX Platform Review”.

Apart from the mainboard and other specially required components, the new FX-series processors from AMD are relatively affordable. The new AMD Athlon 64 FX-70 (2.60GHz, 2MB L2 cache [1MB per core]), FX-72 (2.80GHz, 2MB L2 cache [1MB per core]) and FX-74 (3.00GHz, 2MB L2 cache [1MB per core]) microprocessors designed to work in pairs will be sold for $599, $799 and $999 per pair.