The technology market is fun to watch because, every few months, a vendor attempts to disrupt it with a new product. This week it is the AMD 8-Core FX processor, which signifies AMD’s willingness to take Intel on for the gaming performance crown. It is aggressively priced and impressively powerful. But is the market ready for an 8-core part?
8 Cores in a Dual-Core World
My first 8-core system was from Intel and it was a beast. It was based on Intel’s professional Xeon part for servers and it would spin my power meter like crazy. It also did a nice job of heating my office, something that was kind of nice in the winter, but not so much in the summer. However, I quickly discovered that I rarely used more than 3 cores and I was spending a ton of money on operating this beast with very little return, so I went back to 3- and 4-core parts from AMD and Intel. However, that was then, and this is now.
Now I typically run 3-, 4-, and 6-core systems and regularly light up all of the cores. This is because I’m increasingly running multi-threaded applications and the multi-core capability of Windows Vista was significantly improved with Windows 7, which now appears to shift loads more aggressively to the idle cores than Windows Vista did. Suddenly I’m looking at my old 6-core AMD box and realize it isn’t enough. Windows 8 is expected to be even more aggressive with more cores than Windows 7 is.
In addition, these newer systems are better at powering down the idle cores so that you can have the performance when you need it and are no longer trying to set speed records with your power meters.
iPads and Why Desktop Computers Aren’t Dead
One other thing I’m beginning to highlight as a trend is that folks who are living on iPads appear to be going back to desktop computers at home and in their offices. The tablet is what they use when they are away from the desk. It gets massive battery life and is ideal for email and web browsing, but it is clearly underpowered for creation a desktop computer provides more performance for the money (and assures a bigger screen) than any laptop.
In short, this new part arrives when, apparently, a lot of folks are looking to revisit desktop computers. I do think it is interesting that it took a tablet to revitalize the desktop computer market.
Performance
One of the best places to go for benchmarks is Tom’s Hardware Guide and, as usual, they have done an extensive set of them here. What you’ll immediately see is that AMD tuned the FX for the future; it is strong on power management and multi-core work and sucks at single-core tasks. Unfortunately iTunes, one of the most common applications, is single core. You’ll also note that the i7 pretty much dusts this part which often comes close to it, but always between the i5 and i7, suggesting this is a better alternative to the i5 than it is Intel’s premier part. The i7 is substantially more expensive though, showcasing AMD’s value message and the FX prices slightly above the i5. One area to look at is gaming and the FX, particularly with the incredibly intense Crysis 2 tests, matched the i7 once again showing a strong foundation; in the F1 test it didn’t do as well, and World of Warcraft heavily prefers the i7. Tom’s attempted to do Windows 8 tests (most benchmarks won’t yet run) and the initial impression is this will be a strong Windows 8 product. Particularly looking at World of Warcraft, FX went from behind to the lead. Power savings under Windows 8 improves markedly as well.
This means that if you are not buying ultimate performance where the i7 still rules, if you are anticipating Windows 8 and don’t live on iTunes (you are doing something like photo or video editing or playing Cysis, that is heavily multi-threaded) the FX is a nice alternative to the i5 for a bit more cash.
These tests really showcase massive multi-core performance improvements in Windows 8.
The New AMD
I think the most interesting part of the FX launch is this signifies AMD’s willingness to get back into the performance game with a new more powerful, and more efficient, part. It always seemed strange that they were willing to cede the top spot to Intel unchallenged and while Intel is executing very well, a little competition is good for everyone. Intel still holds the top spot with the i7, but the Windows 8 scores showcase that AMD is moving on that platform to close the gap. In the end, I’m looking forward to retiring my 6 core desktop and replacing it with an 8-core tamed, oh wait, it is unlocked, partially tamed beast because, with Windows 8 coming, you can now never have enough cores.
Now if someone will just kick Apple in the butt and get them to rewrite iTunes for this decade?
Rob Enderle in Business on October 13
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