K8 to K8L: Overview of added abilities and features

[ViN86]

heres a summary of the alleged additions to the K8 to form the K8L. it also gives a very brief comparison to the abilities of the Conroe and which CPU should win.

it is important to note that Intel will probably have a Conroe-refresh out before the K8L is released.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-k8l.html

[Sazar]

Interesting article.

K8L definitely has some features to look out for but the core2 marchitecture is fairly robust AND should allow for easy future development. Remains to be seen how flexible the AMD procs will be with their memory controller implementation.

[ViN86]

Interesting article.

K8L definitely has some features to look out for but the core2 marchitecture is fairly robust AND should allow for easy future development. Remains to be seen how flexible the AMD procs will be with their memory controller implementation.
well one things for certain, AMD has some catchin up to do and its goin to take a lot of work. i hope K8L crushes the core2, then intel releases something to counter. a CPU war would be great and we would see the prices drop :D

[Sazar]

I don't personally see how the k8l can crush the core2 procs, simply by looking at the marchitecture and relatively solid design of the core2.

It is far from perfect but what it is designed to do, it does very well. Reduced bottlenecks from the older northy based tech definitely have aided :D

Plus, intel does have new stuff up its sleeve too. I seriously doubt they are going to let their guard down as before and will probably be looking to maximize margin per proc.

Surprisingly, AMD is doing solid business primarily because of how much it earns per proc even now.

[ViN86]

I don't personally see how the k8l can crush the core2 procs, simply by looking at the marchitecture and relatively solid design of the core2.

It is far from perfect but what it is designed to do, it does very well. Reduced bottlenecks from the older northy based tech definitely have aided :D

Plus, intel does have new stuff up its sleeve too. I seriously doubt they are going to let their guard down as before and will probably be looking to maximize margin per proc.

Surprisingly, AMD is doing solid business primarily because of how much it earns per proc even now.
oh yes, realistically it wont beat the core2, but it should be close. then intel will release a(nother) refresh and it will be lights out again.

im just hopin for some competition lol.

[Sazar]

If they have tweaked the bottlenecks from the older hammer marchitecture, it should be faster than the current generation of c2d's, undoubtedly. But, will it be faster than the new iterations intel will release?

[a12ctic]

relatively solid design of the core2.
solid? hardly, 4mb of cache and fsb isnt exactly solid... If amd can get rid of the bottlenecks in the K8 architecture, intel could be in the back seat for another 4 years, the amd chips are much more memory efficient, they arent amazingly cache dependant, and they run COOL.

[Banko]

solid? hardly, 4mb of cache and fsb isnt exactly solid... If amd can get rid of the bottlenecks in the K8 architecture, intel could be in the back seat for another 4 years, the amd chips are much more memory efficient, they arent amazingly cache dependant, and they run COOL.
You do know that the next Intel CPU in 2007 is going to have a built in memory controller as well?

[Sazar]

solid? hardly, 4mb of cache and fsb isnt exactly solid... If amd can get rid of the bottlenecks in the K8 architecture, intel could be in the back seat for another 4 years, the amd chips are much more memory efficient, they arent amazingly cache dependant, and they run COOL.

Are you suggesting the Core2 procs don't run cool? They have far lower TDP than the amd procs and Intel has invested far more heavily in reducing TDP than amd has. The results are self-evident.

I don't doubt k8l will have reduced TDP too but I doubt it will come close to the core2 procs because of the on-die memory controller.

The cache is not a detriment, remember that k8l will have higher latency l3 cache helping it out. Good design, but like I said, higher latency.

The core2 design is not perfect, like I said. I am a bigger fan of the clean design that the hammer tech introduced to the cpu world.

Personally I am waiting for a quad-core k8l for my next proc :cool: But I also know intel has some really good products undergoing testing.

[ViN86]

yes, next gen Intel chips will utilize a built in memory controller and the hypertransport 2.0 bus. its hard to compare (impossible actually) at this point, because it also depends on how much of the bottlenecks they remove.

bottlenecks will always be there, its just a matter of how much they will be improved.

[shabby]

solid? hardly, 4mb of cache and fsb isnt exactly solid... If amd can get rid of the bottlenecks in the K8 architecture, intel could be in the back seat for another 4 years, the amd chips are much more memory efficient, they arent amazingly cache dependant, and they run COOL.

Your whole "K8L will crush the conroe" outlook is based on this one word... sad aint it?

[Redeemed]

Your whole "K8L will crush the conroe" outlook is based on this one word... sad aint it?

I wouldn't say that is sad. I simpy feel that AMD has their work cut out for them. Not only do they have to manage to compete fiercely with Intel but now they have nVidia to compete with while also supporting nVidia and Intel procs with their chipsets.

Yup, AMD has their work pile sky high. But, I do feel AMD can make it work. K8 is not a dead acthitecture, I'm sure AMD will manage to come ontop yet again. I also feel that Intel wont ever be so lax again, and that neither AMD nor Intel will hold the performance crown for 4 years again. I'm expecting the CPU market to become much more fierce and competitive.

We'll see...

[Richteralan]

Are you suggesting the Core2 procs don't run cool? They have far lower TDP than the amd procs and Intel has invested far more heavily in reducing TDP than amd has. The results are self-evident.

well I hope you know Intel and AMD calcuate their TDP differently.

[a12ctic]

Your whole "K8L will crush the conroe" outlook is based on this one word... sad aint it?
Not really, sense theyd have to **** up bad if they ddint beat the conroe, i mean its only 15%-20% faster in any give app (xmastong)

[shabby]

You should re-read some conroe reviews (http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=17) if you think its only 15-20 percent.

[a12ctic]

You should re-read some conroe reviews (http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=17) if you think its only 15-20 percent.
because we all know that anadtech ISNT the most intel biasest website on the internet. :rolleyes: Most review sites are about 15-20% conroe in favor for encoding (at the same clocks), for gaming at above 800x600, its even less.

[walterman]

Think it's about the overclocking potential. Most C2D chips overclock easily to 3GHz & above. Intel has advantage with 65nm & now they're switching to 45nm. Anyway, never marry with any brand.