X6800 Now Available@Newegg + C2D Coverage!

[Tormentor]

[link removed - newegg yanked it off their site, for those wondering it was selling at $1,359.99]

And so it begins.

To coincide with the release of the X6800, an abundance of Core 2 Duo articles have been published (taken mostly from DailyTech):

• Anandtech
• Phoronix
• Hardware Secrets
• Hot Hardware
• Bytesector
• Overclockers Australia
• The Tech Report
• GotFrag
• Trusted Reviews
• Legion Hardware
• TweakTown
• HardOCP
• ExtremeTech
• Legit Reviews
• Sharky Extreme
• GamePyre
• Hardware Analysis
• Sudhian
• MadShrimps
• Firing Squad

Will add more as they pop up!

Any chance of seeing some fresh HardwareLogic coverage soon?

[yurimxpxman]

To quote one of my favorite writers, "Intel's line-up is a bewildering mess." Gordon and I share the same two cents like a covalent bond.

I have such a hard time keeping all of Intel's processors straight.

Are Intel's dual-core processers still on the same die?

[RangerXLT8]

That X6800 is not longer at Newegg.... WTF were they thinking charging 359.00 over MSRP!!!!!!!

That [H] article about the Conroe Gaming experience is BOGUS. They run the AMD system with the flagship MCP 590 chipset, and the Intel system with a 965 chipset(proven to be inferior to 975X in 3D benchmarks\games).

Ontop of that they run at resolutions like 1600x1200(with lots of eye candy) with a sinlge card, so the bottleneck is not even the CPU!

After I mentioned this, Kyle_Bennet(Editor in Chief of [H]) did explain in the comment thread that Intel rushed them, and did not provide them with a 975X chipset, so he made do with what he had.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by RangerXLT8

After I mentioned this, Kyle_Bennet(Editor in Chief of [H]) did explain in the comment thread that Intel rushed them, and did not provide them with a 975X chipset, so he made do with what he had.

:shock: That's somewhat stupid of Intel.

[Joe D]

Does anyone else have an issue with HARD[OCP] and their whole attitude?

You will see a lot of gaming benchmarks today that just simply lie to you. That is right, you will see frames per second numbers that are at best total BS, and at their worst a terrible representation of what difference a new Intel Core 2 processor will make in your gaming experience.

Maybe its just me, but honestly they are stating the obvious that in subjective gameplay there is little difference between processors and that graphics cards mean more (not to mention a person will have a hard time telling differences, which is where those canned benchmarks come in). Then theey turn around and use the exact same canned benchmarks that they bash other sites for. Hypocracy!
BTW, you guys are really a breath of fresh air! I like being able to read a ideas and opinions without having someone's know it all attitude being crammed down your throat. Keep up the really good work!

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by RangerXLT8

That [H] article about the Conroe Gaming experience is BOGUS.

Maybe it's just me, but [H]'s whole Conroe examination carries an AMD fanboyish undertone:

Originally Posted by [H

ardOCP]We have proven here that the flurry of canned benchmarks based on timedemos showing huge gains with Core 2 processors are virtually worthless in rating the true gaming performance of these processors today. The fact of the matter is that real-world gaming performance today greatly lies at the feet of your video card

Nice epiphany on what guides the gaming experience in any modern rig, but hasn't this been true for quite some time now? The exact same thing could have been said regarding the Athlon X2 debut, but in that case, it was commented that "AMD has what amounts to a silicon homerun with the bases loaded," which was followed by the AM2 lineup receiving an Editor's Choice Gold Award.

Originally Posted by [H

ardOCP]the only persons that need to be even a little concerned with upgrading their CPU to a Core 2 processor might be those with high-end SLI, CrossFire, or GeForce GX2 video cards...

The only persons? Why exclude all the people ready to build a modern, enthusiast level rig? Simply put, Intel has come out with a processor that outshines AMD's offerings pretty much completely across the board, yet the only ones that should equip themselves with a Conroe are those running a high end mutliple videocard setup? That's quirky.

Yes, AMD is set to make some drastic price cuts in the very near future, but up until that time, the X2 lineup has been overpriced, yet still managed a symbolic "homerun" and Editor's Choice award, whereas Conroe seems to be met with a "meh."

Originally Posted by Joe D

Does anyone else have an issue with HARD[OCP] and their whole attitude?[...]Maybe its just me...

LOL, it's definitely not just you! You beat me to the punch and posted while I was composing mine. :P

[Capper]

Yeah, I just finished reading their article.....yeah.
I don't want to expand on that, but feel its really tacky to take the condescending tone about others, their points of view, and testing methods. While its true that companies are tuning everything for the highest benchmarking scores, its also true that those benchmarks do represent performance....you just have to pick and choose what benchmarks to use for different points of view.....gaming is not a good test of anything except the video card to be honest. As long as you have an applicable CPU to go with your card (meaning it doesn't make sense to run an Sempron with a 7950 VC), its like talking about memory and its effect on gaming......really not that important. CPU benchmarks like Sandra, Everest, Sysmark, and WorldBench are decent gauges for the worth of a CPU.....

I do have to say that that everyone I had talked to was a bit underwhelmed with the Conroe experience. I think that if anything it will make for much better competition than we have seen over the past few years..... and that we the consumers will benefit from some healthy competition in lower prices.

I understand they were trying to make a point, but their article was at time contradictory and at other times rather combative of how other sites review materials

[polobunny]

I just read the review, it's a really weird way of reviewing a new CPU... =/

[yurimxpxman]

Dittos. I think games are a great way to measure the performance of graphics cards, but not always for CPUs. DVD Shrink is an excellent standard for measuring CPU speeds because it is bottle-necked by only the CPU and supports multi-threading and multiple cores.

[RangerXLT8]

Originally Posted by One4yu2c

LOL, it's definitely not just you! You beat me to the punch and posted while I was composing mine. :P

And folks who are not well informed on the subject, will believe what they read in that review...