The fastest AMD chip does not 'threaten' Intel

AMD's four-core Phenom processor for PCs has consistently lost points in the latest test with Intel's Penryn model.

PC World magazine's test center said it tested all systems with a configuration of DDR2-800 2GB memory, 2 Seagate ST3320620 AS hard drives, 320 MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTS graphics card. Phenom chips (based on 2.6-nm, 2.6-GHz and 2.3-GHz technologies) come with Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe motherboards, AMD 790FX chipsets. Penryn chips (45 nm technology) are placed on the Asus Maximus Formula motherboard, Intel X38 chipset.

When the Phenom 9900 clocked at 2.6 GHz, the score that WorldBench 6 Beta 2 software measured was 107, only slightly above the 96 score of the Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2-core chip released a year ago and lost. The 127 point that Penryn 4-core chip (Intel Core 2 Extreme) achieved.

Overall, 2007 was not a good year for AMD when Intel launched four-core chips based on 45 nm technology. They lag behind Intel in terms of technology for up to a year, while products with similar capabilities are higher than rivals because Intel has already reached a stage of lowering costs for second-hand products.

Technical index table that AMD and Intel chips achieve. Photo: PC World

For example, the upcoming 2.6 GHz Phenom 9900 4-core chip will be priced at approximately US $ 350, Phenom 9600 2.3 GHz is US $ 283, the Phenom 9500 2.2 GHz is US $ 251, while the processor 2 core Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 costs 230 USD. And when AMD caught up with Intel in terms of technology, perhaps the $ 1,000 Penryn model has slashed prices a lot.

In addition, the fact that AMD spent $ 5.4 billion to own ATI graphics card maker did not make a turning point in the race with Intel because ATI still ranked second after nVidia. Maybe AMD will have more experience in the area of ​​graphics processing and chipsets but the burden on the rankings weighs more on them.

Viet Toan