Socket A

Discussion in 'CPU, Motherboards and Memory' started by Temporal, Oct 13, 2003.

  1. Temporal

    Temporal Geek Trainee

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    With the release of the AMD Athlon 64, what do you think is going to happen to the socket A class of processors? Are they going to be able to compete with the new 64 bit coolness of the new processors or are they going to be "outdated"? What is your opinion?
    ~Temporal~
     
  2. harrack52

    harrack52 Supreme Geek

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    Well right now the Athlon 64 is a waste of money since there's no 64 bit apps on the market.

    I personally think the transition will be slow because not everyone wants to pay that kind of money and software developpers are aware of that. Therefore they'll still make 32 bit apps.

    We'll start seeing apps that support both class of cpus though, but 32 bit cpus will still be able to run them very good, I have no worries about that.
     
  3. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    From what I've been reading, Socket A is probably going to stay around for awhile. AMD kept the Socket 7 alive for several years with the K6's, and so far, AMD has been one to stick to a particular socket for several years, and even past when it releases it's new line of CPU's. A64 will be different as there are a few different socket types, which are going to establish the consumer Athlon64's from the Opteron's.

    The other thing that's going to keep them from the mainstream is the price. I own 3 PC's, but I also don't buy the lastest and greatest the instant it comes out (don't we all wish). For most people, the price of the A64 is too high to justify the cost. The biggest advantage with 64-bit computing is the ability to natively address over 4GB of memory. It is done with some high-end server motherboards, but that's through a combination of hardware and software. 64-bit raises the cealing to new levels...the exact number I'm not sure of, but it is quite high.

    Harrack pretty much explained the other things that'll keep it from the mainstream market for awhile. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we don't see A64 in the mainstream until this time next year.
     
  4. Temporal

    Temporal Geek Trainee

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    Hmm, that's interesting. I was thinking about saving up some money and investing in one of them Athlon 64's. Just so I could be on top of things, and that intergrated memory controller looks very promising. But you guys are saying investing in a nice socket A system would be a better way to go?
    ~Temporal~
     
  5. harrack52

    harrack52 Supreme Geek

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    Right now I would say yes.

    With all new technologies, prices go up exponentially so you have a very bad price/performance ratio with the new 64 bit cpus.

    I'd say get a nice socket A system for now, and by this time next year, you'll get something better than what you can afford right now in the Athlon 64, for a cheaper price.

    Right now, you do not need all the power the Athlon 64 has to offer.

    If I had money to throw out the window, I'd definitely get a nice Athlon FX setup just to show it off, but I unfortunately don't, so I keep my Barton setup, which is far from being old anyway.
     

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