Non-intel benchmarks on Conroe vs AMD's AM2 FX62

[panteltje]

The little lost angel schreef:

I hate the bloat that comes with most distribution. But I went with
Ubuntu at the moment because I need something that I can eventually
use as both a normal laptop/desktop OS (for other people in the family
as well!) and small server.

Since Ubuntu is based off Debian which is supposed to be good for
server environment, I picked it to reduce any additional confusion I
might get from trying to learn two different OS at the same time.

Only had it for a day or two, still trying to figure out why/how
Firefox 1.5 wouldn't work on it. That's the main problem with Linux I
guess, you can't just download the latest app and expect it to run
just like Windows versions.

grml comes with firefox pre-installed.
I do not have the latest version of grml, but got the latest firefox.
That crashed (I think on some plugin) repeatedly.
So I re-installed 1.5.. now everything things seems to work, even the
RSS feeds.
Grml window manager is not that great (to put it mildly), so I
installed fvwm on it.
Basically it is a 'command line sys adm Linux, it is debian based
however,
you you can use the debian updates.
It runs the web server http://panteltje.com, ftp server, mail server
(pine), up 24/7,
security cams encoding... and it is only one CD size.
You can view the system sensors here:
http://panteltje.com/panteltje/view_sensors.php
grml is an Ideal distro for servers and cheap boxes....

 

[panteltje]

krw schreef:

People still use 1024x768?? <shudder>

I still use 800x600, for a simple reason, I also watch digital sat TV
sometimes on this monitor.
And that comes as 720x576, so it fist, and rescaling to full screen is
a small jump.

 

[Trent]

Lowest speed grade AMD versus not yet available highest speed grade iNtel?,
no details on setup or board, maybe Intel payed them?

YES - IT'S ALL A CONSPIRACY!!! WHERE'S MY TINFOIL HAT?

 

[Trent]

Tell you what, if *I* was given the mobo, the conroe chips, and 1000$
to spend freely, I would refuse it, as I use no products from a company
that sues the hell out of each website that has 'inside' in its name.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I hear that they now make shotguns
in 31 different flavors.

 

[Jan Panteltje]

YES - IT'S ALL A CONSPIRACY!!! WHERE'S MY TINFOIL HAT?

I dunno, you bought it, you look after it!

 

[Jan Panteltje]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I hear that they now make shotguns
in 31 different flavors.

You could not put a fine point on anything if you tried.
But a good arrow with a fine point will penetrate any tinfoil hat.

 

[chrisv]

(e-mail address removed) says...

Horseshit. Anyone delaying a purchase because of this FUD is as
stupid as they come. You?

I understand where you're coming from, Keith, and ordinarily I'd agree
with you. But today we are in a situation just a couple months short
of the rare occasion completely redesigned X86 CPU, with early reports
being VERY promising. Personally, knowing what I know today, I would
delay my purchase until these things are available, just in case they
are that much better.

 

[Keith]

krw schreef:

I still use 800x600, for a simple reason, I also watch digital sat TV
sometimes on this monitor.

OMG, how positively retro. ;-)

And that comes as 720x576, so it fist, and rescaling to full screen is
a small jump.

I run 3080(1400+1680) x 1050 on the windows system at home
(1400x1050 and 1600x1200 at work) and let the processor do the
scaling. I still don't have enough desktop (will likely add my
19" CRT at 1280x1024 to the mix at home as soon as I decide on a
graphics card).

 

[Yousuf Khan]

OK, we'll see what AMD will come up with 2 months later. At least it
will be a speed grade, possibly two or more. However most likely
Intel will be ahead until AMD gets 65nm ready (December?) My bet -
July will be a good time to buy INTC - probably will slide to around
15 or less by that time, and January will be the time to dump INTC and
use the profits to buy AMD.

Intel is doing everything it possibly can to kill its own existing
sales. It just announced some pre-release numbers for its Woodcrest
server chip (showing how much better it is than Opteron), and in the
meantime, it's just getting ready to introduce its Dempsey server chip.
It's playing up the performance of the Woodcrest so much, it's actually
calling Dempsey as a "low-cost value alternative to Woodcrest". Great, I
assume that means they expect no revenue from Dempsey now? Why bother
releasing Dempsey at all then?

Yousuf Khan

 

[The little lost angel]

Basically it is a 'command line sys adm Linux, it is debian based
however, you you can use the debian updates.
It runs the web server http://panteltje.com, ftp server, mail server
(pine), up 24/7,
security cams encoding... and it is only one CD size.
You can view the system sensors here:
http://panteltje.com/panteltje/view_sensors.php
grml is an Ideal distro for servers and cheap boxes....

Thanks for the information, I'll look into it as I will be spending
some time figuring out which distribution I want to go with for the
next year or so, including replacing Windows for the old folks who
depend on me for these things. So the requirements does get a little
bit mixed up at times

 

[George Macdonald]

I hate the bloat that comes with most distribution. But I went with
Ubuntu at the moment because I need something that I can eventually
use as both a normal laptop/desktop OS (for other people in the family
as well!) and small server.

Since Ubuntu is based off Debian which is supposed to be good for
server environment, I picked it to reduce any additional confusion I
might get from trying to learn two different OS at the same time.

Only had it for a day or two, still trying to figure out why/how
Firefox 1.5 wouldn't work on it. That's the main problem with Linux I
guess, you can't just download the latest app and expect it to run
just like Windows versions.

I've grown weary of Firefox and all its bugs, glitches and memory bloat - I
have Firefox 1.5.0.3 at the office and Seamonkey at home. I'm staying with
Seamonkey.

 

[Keith]

I've grown weary of Firefox and all its bugs, glitches and memory bloat

Same here, particularly printing. Most annoying.

- I have Firefox 1.5.0.3 at the office and Seamonkey at home. I'm staying with
Seamonkey.

Seamonkey? Seamonkey?!!! I've heard opera is goodness too.

 

[nobody]

Intel is doing everything it possibly can to kill its own existing
sales. It just announced some pre-release numbers for its Woodcrest
server chip (showing how much better it is than Opteron), and in the
meantime, it's just getting ready to introduce its Dempsey server chip.
It's playing up the performance of the Woodcrest so much, it's actually
calling Dempsey as a "low-cost value alternative to Woodcrest". Great, I
assume that means they expect no revenue from Dempsey now? Why bother
releasing Dempsey at all then?

Yousuf Khan

Yep, immeasurable stupidity, and that's for the company that is headed
now by a professional marketeer... But if Conroe will result even in
a miniscule shift of the market share in favor of INTC (quite a
possibility, especially in gaming desktops) the anal...ysts will
trumpet it as the greatest turnaround story ever. That will move the
market at least until quarterly results of K8L sales and market share
are in. The anal...ysts can't tell benchmarking from binge drinking,
but market share shift is something they understand.

NNN

 

[nobody]

Exactly my point - 1024x768 is not that low a resolution for game
benchmarks... otherwise the benchmarks would not be run at 640x480 to show
the difference.

Do the modern games still have 640x480 setting? ;-)

And seriously, when I decide to check out a game, I run it at 1024x768
or even 800x600 because on my measly R9800SE higher res is not
playable - but since I am no gamer, this is good enough for me. All
things other than games I run at 1600x1200. Wouldn't mind to have
more screen real estate, but Apple Cinema 30" is waaay too pricey for
my taste - $2348 on Pricewatch. Dell is a bit less expensive - $1927
- but has too bad a press - banding, uneven brightness, and other
issues, and still too pricey.

NNN

 

[Mark]

Exactly my point - 1024x768 is not that low a resolution for game
benchmarks... otherwise the benchmarks would not be run at 640x480 to show
the difference.

Given that graphics cards are so much more powerful these days, running them
at 1024x768 is equivalent to running them at 640x480 in the past. Further,
games no longer necessarily have the option to run at 640x480. For instance,
the only game I have installed at the moment is Far Cry, and the lowest
resolution for it is 800x600. I wouldn't be surprised if the lowest
resolution for some other games is 1024x768.

 

[krw]

I understand where you're coming from, Keith, and ordinarily I'd agree
with you. But today we are in a situation just a couple months short
of the rare occasion completely redesigned X86 CPU, with early reports
being VERY promising. Personally, knowing what I know today, I would
delay my purchase until these things are available, just in case they
are that much better.

I'd be waiting more than a couple of months! Let the shake-out
happen. DO you think these things are going to be free? No, buy
what you need when you need it. The performance difference simply
won't be astronomical. Those days are *long* gone.

 

[The little lost angel]

I've grown weary of Firefox and all its bugs, glitches and memory bloat - I
have Firefox 1.5.0.3 at the office and Seamonkey at home. I'm staying with
Seamonkey.

Hmm, what kind of bugs and glitches? Though I admit the memory
footprint is getting bigger and bigger, there hasn't really been any
show stopping issues that I've noticed apart from the usual "this site
has been designed only to work with IE". But then faking the useragent
header allows FF to work even on some of them

Of course, my experience with FF is almost entirely on Windows.

With Linux, well, I guess not even starting up is a major bug but I
can't seriously attribute it to FF 1.5 when it could well be I didn't
install it properly. all I did was download, unzip/tar into
/home/firefox, double clicked on the file with the description that
says executable, loading... then nothing!

 

[krw]

Lots of people are still using 15" LCD at home or office.

Why? As Felger&co. pointed out to me today 19" (1280x1024) LCD
displays are going for $200 now, including shipping. 20.1"
displays are going for $300. Whay would anyone put up with a
postage stamp.

They work fine for the their purpose.

....and that purpose died with the last century.

 

[The little lost angel]

Why? As Felger&co. pointed out to me today 19" (1280x1024) LCD
displays are going for $200 now, including shipping. 20.1"
displays are going for $300. Whay would anyone put up with a
postage stamp.

Not everybody uses CAD you know

Everyday office work on 1024x768 on a 15" is fair enough. A lot people
don't even change from the default resolution, which is like 800x600
for WinXP.

Quite a few older folks I help out PREFER lower resolution because
higher res are too tiny for their eyes. Changing font sizes only
doesn't help because other stuff like pictures emailed to them still
look small.

Glad to know you guys can get US$200 19" LCD from, but around here, a
15"/17" are stuck around US$200~220, while something like Viewsonic
19" starts around US$250 and range up to 430 depending on models. A
Viewsonic 20" would be around US$500.

Although $50 doesn't sound like much to you, to most people making
their buys esp for office, that's almost 10% of the system price.
There are still people buying US$120 17" CRT simply because of the
price. Those cheap tubes would suck at above 1024x768.

 

[Jan Panteltje]

Hmm, what kind of bugs and glitches? Though I admit the memory
footprint is getting bigger and bigger, there hasn't really been any
show stopping issues that I've noticed apart from the usual "this site
has been designed only to work with IE". But then faking the useragent
header allows FF to work even on some of them

Of course, my experience with FF is almost entirely on Windows.

With Linux, well, I guess not even starting up is a major bug but I
can't seriously attribute it to FF 1.5 when it could well be I didn't
install it properly. all I did was download, unzip/tar into
/home/firefox, double clicked on the file with the description that
says executable, loading... then nothing!

Yes there install sucks, this is how it works:

The installer (you cliked) creates a link:

whereis firefox
firefox: /usr/bin/firefox /etc/firefox /usr/lib/firefox /usr/share/firefox /usr/share/man/man1/firefox.1.gz

ls -l /usr/bin/firefox
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 2006-01-28 17:31 /usr/bin/firefox -> ../lib/firefox/firefox*

So you could test if now typing
firefox
in an xterm starts it up?
If it does make an icon for it on the desktop?