AMD shows off 3.0GHz Barcelona

[Chevron]

I GUESS THE speed path problems with Barcelona were a bit overblown. At the analyst day this morning, AMD demoed a 3Ghz Phenom running the new 'Tri-Fire multi-GPU' setup.

http://www.theinquirer.net/images/articles/Phenom_30_screen.jpg
http://www.theinquirer.net/images/articles/Phenom_30_Trifire.jpg

Not much more to say, 3.0 GHz, three 2900XTs and lots of available gaming goodness. You will notice that the three cards are connected with a bridge. It works, it runs games, and I want one. µ

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41256

And in other news:


Crossfire rig busts 3DMark record

HE RADEON HD 2900 XT CROSSFIRE has set a new record at card testing show 3Dmark 06, scoring a staggering 25,867 points after extensive testing.

The prior top scorer was 25,733 points using a pair of GeForce 8800 Ultras, but it was slain by Kinc’s two ASUS Radeon HD 2900 XTs running in a CrossFire config, paired up with an Intel QX6700 which was overclocked to 5029MHz.

According to Nordic Hardware[url], AMD/ATI’s Radeon 2900 XT was top dog at 3Dmark 05 while holding the second place as well. Now, for 3Dmark 06, the card’s top dog yet again and holding third place too.

You can check out the 3Dmark Hall of Fame for more spec-a-licious stuff right [url=http://www.theinquirer.net/%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.futuremark.com/community/halloffame/%E2%80%9D]here (http://www.theinquirer.net/%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.nordichardware.com/news,6630.html%E2%80%9D). µ

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41257

[Chevron]

and in other other news:


EU Commission Issues Formal Charges Against Intel

After years of accumulating evidence, the European Union sets its antitrust crosshairs on Intel.

After years of investigating Intel’s trade practices against AMD, the European Commission officially filed formal charges against the chip-making giant, as detailed in a statement of objections (SO) filed to the company today. “I can confirm the statement of objections has been sent,” said European Commission spokesman Tom Van Lierop, offering no further comment.

The European Commission raided Intel’s offices in 2005 on suspicions of anticompetitive activities. In 1999, Intel settled charges with the US Federal Trade Commission, and a later investigation by the FTC in 2000 was dropped. In 2004, the Fair Trade Commission in Japan raided Intel’s Japanese office, and in 2006 the Korean Fair Trade Commission raided Intel’s office in Seoul. Both raids were conducted as part of antitrust investigations in their respective countries.

In the United States, AMD sued Intel in June 2005 on charges of coercion and anti-competitive practices, running full-page ads in several US newspapers. “You may not be aware, but Intel’s illegal actions hurt consumers – everyday,” read the ad, pointing to a 48-page complaint (PDF) on AMD’s web site. Today the lawsuit is still working its way through the courts, with additional lawsuits pending in South America and other jurisdictions.

AMD enjoyed a surge in market share in 2005 and 2006 with its’ Opteron and Athlon 64 line of CPUs. However, with the launch of Intel’s heralded Core 2 line of CPUs in July 2006, AMD found itself losing much of the traction they had previously gained. At the end of 2006, AMD’s market share was 25% of all shipments for x86 processors, but by March 2007, that number slipped to less than 19%.

While AMD’s stock price has fallen, Intel’s has risen. Between slipping market share, the acquisition of Canadian GPU manufacturer ATI, and yet another round of substantial price cuts from Intel, AMD has found itself in a difficult place: while its most recent earnings report posted a 13% rise in quarterly revenue, those same figures also included losses of $600 million.

According to Intel’s Principles for Responsible Business (PDF), “Intel encourages competition, which benefits consumers by prohibiting unreasonable restraints on trade. Intel competes vigorously while at the same time adhering to both the letter and spirit of antitrust laws.”

http://www.dailytech.com/EU+Commission+Issues+Formal+Charges+Against+Intel/article8208.htm

[BLACKWOLF]

I am the only one noticing the extra 4 fans needed for cooling?

[GeometriX]

AMD have been using that design to show off their stuff for a few months now. It doesn't necessarily mean they need it, it could just be for show, for all we know. My money is on the fans being there mostly to help cool those three monster graphics cards, anyway.

[BLACKWOLF]

If the fans where only there for the GPU's you would only have needed the bottom 2. I have heard many rumors of AMD having leakage problems with their CPU's.

[GeometriX]

Nobody said the fans were only there to cool the graphics cards. Looking at my case right now, I can see a fan pointed directly at my CPU cooler, yet not at my video card's cooler (making it a rather normal thing). All I'm saying is that the setup you see in the photo has been used for a while now, so the presence of four fans is really nothing to write home about.

[BLACKWOLF]

Its not 4 fans, its 4 extra fans. Its nothing mayor but its making it impractical. The Intel core 2 series can reach 3.0+Ghz with the need for excess fans.

[GeometriX]

You know what, you just don't get it, that's fine. I suggest you read through the comments on it on Dailytech, where this little war of yours has already been waged. I'm not going to bother anymore.

[Frozenfireside]

Yeah-Why do you need 3 graphics cards to show off a CPU as well?
It's just a demonstration-Get over it.

[GeometriX]

EDIT: NVM. Am twitchy today, need to relax.

[Darkmag]

I get what GeometriX is saying and I agree with him, the fact that there 4 fans doesn`t mean it needs 4 fans to run poperly, theres no sound card oh **** the barcelano can`t work with sound cards!!!!, and I need three HD2900XT to be able to utilize it!!!!

Why did they leave out the sound card? becuase they wanted to
why did they add a billion fans? becuase they wanted to
why are there three 2900XT`s? becuase they wanted to

@blackwolf can you actually smell how much heat that thing is giving off? or that it is even a barcelona? **** its a freaking picture I can draw that in paint, it`ll look bad but I can still do it

[Gambit]

This is way of topic but have a look at this price's of these Intel CPU's.

http://www.take2.co.za/news.php?id=11275&type=4

* Intel Core 2 Quadro Q6600 CPU - Quad Core - Socket 775 - New Price R2812

[Gen0cyde]

I am the only one noticing the extra 4 fans needed for cooling?

Those fans are not "needed" for cooling. That is the Coolermaster Stacker case it has a 4 fan rack. Look out for my review on it in the (I think) October issue.

Back on topic. ->

[Hellius]

People can think what they want about prices and so on but it will be worth it to get amd's quad-core. And intel's so called quad-core isn't a true quad-core cpu while amd's is.
You can learn all about it at : http://enterprise.amd.com/us-en/quadcore/

[FoX]

i can clock my rig to 3.4Mhz(look at bottom)

[Gldm]

i can clock my rig to 3.4Mhz(look at bottom)

And yet you still can't spell dual, or get GHz vs MHz right...

[Stoffel]

I need to upgrade my cpu to a dual core, what would be better a Intel Penium D or AMD cpu's? with gaming in mind.

[GeometriX]

Performance: Core 2 > X2 > Pentium D
Price: X2 < Core 2 < Pentium D
Overclocking: Core 2 > X2 > Pentium D

Give or take a few bits here and there, but that's about what you can expect. Anyway, this isn't really the place for this discussion.

[FoX]

And yet you still can't spell dual, or get GHz vs MHz right...

:P hehe oops