CPU Chart, Processors Hierarchy

What about this other CPU that’s not on the list? How do I know if it’s a good deal or not?

This will happen. In fact, it’s guaranteed to happen because availability and prices change quickly. So how do you know if that CPU you’ve got your eye on is a good buy in its price range?

Here is a resource to help you judge if a CPU is a good buy or not: the gaming CPU hierarchy chart, which groups CPUs with similar overall gaming performance levels into tiers. The top tier contains the highest-performing gaming CPUs available and gaming performance decreases as you go down the tiers from there.

However, a word of caution: this hierarchy is based on the average performance each CPU achieved in our charts test suite using only four game titles: Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3, World in Conflict, and Supreme Commander. While we feel this represents an acceptable cross-section of typical gaming scenarios, a specific game title will likely perform differently. Some games, for example, will be severely graphics subsystem-limited, while others may react positively to more CPU cores, larger amounts of CPU cache, or even a specific architecture. We also did not have access to every CPU on the market, so some of the CPU performance estimates are based on the numbers similar architectures deliver. Indeed, this hierarchy chart is useful as a general guideline, but certainly not as a gospel one-size-fits-all perfect CPU comparison resource.

You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two processors, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your CPU unless the potential replacement is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in game performance.

Gaming CPU Hierarchy Chart
Intel	AMD
Core i7 Extreme 965, 975 Core i7-860, -870, -920, -940, -950 Core i5-750 Core 2 Extreme QX9775, QX9770, QX9650 Core 2 Quad Q9650
Core 2 Extreme QX6850, QX6800 Core 2 Quad Q9550, Q9450, Q9400 Core i5-650, -660, -661, -670	Phenom II X4 Black Edition 955, 965
Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Core 2 Quad Q6700, Q9300, Q8400, Q6600, Q8300 Core 2 Duo E8600, E8500, E8400, E7600 Core i3 -530, -540	Phenom II X4 945, 940, 920, 910, 810 Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Athlon II X4 630 Athlon II X3 435
Core 2 Extreme X6800 Core 2 Quad Q8200 Core 2 Duo E8300, E8200, E8190, E7500, E7400, E6850, E6750	Phenom II X4 905e, 805 Phenom II X3 710, 705e Phenom II X2 545, 550 Black Edition Phenom X4 9950 Athlon II X4 620 Athlon II X3 425
Core 2 Duo E7200, E6550, E7300, E6540, E6700 Pentium Dual-Core E6300, E6500 Pentium G9650	Phenom X4 9850, 9750, 9650, 9600 Phenom X3 8850, 8750 Athlon 64 X2 6400+
Core 2 Duo E4700, E4600, E6600, E4500, E6420 Pentium Dual-Core E5400, E5300, E5200	Phenom X4 9500, 9550, 9450e, 9350e Phenom X3 8650, 8600, 8550, 8450e, 8450, 8400, 8250e Athlon II X2 240, 245, 250 Athlon X2 7850, 7750 Athlon 64 X2 6000+, 5600+
Core 2 Duo E4400, E4300, E6400, E6320 Celeron E3300	Phenom X4 9150e, 9100e Athlon X2 7550, 7450, 5050e, 4850e/b Athlon 64 X2 5400+, 5200+, 5000+, 4800+
Core 2 Duo E6300 Pentium Dual-Core E2220, E2200, E2210 Celeron E3200	Athlon X2 6550, 6500, 4450e/b, Athlon X2 4600+, 4400+, 4200+, BE-2400
Pentium Dual-Core E2180 Celeron E1600	Athlon 64 X2 4000+, 3800+ Athlon X2 4050e, BE-2300
Pentium Dual-Core E2160, E2140 Celeron E1500, E1400, E1200

Summary

There you have it folks: the best gaming CPUs for the money this month. Now all that’s left to do is to find and purchase them.

Also remember that the stores don’t follow this list. Things will change over the course of the month and you’ll probably have to adapt your buying strategy to deal with fluctuating prices. Good luck!

(http://www.tomshardware.com)

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VGA Chart, Hierarchy Graphics Card

What about this other card that’s not on the list? How do I know if it’s a good deal or not?

This will happen. In fact, it’s guaranteed to happen, because inventory levels and prices change quickly. So how do you know if that card you’ve got your eye on is a good buy in its price range?

Here are two resources to help you judge if a card is a good buy or not. The first is the graphics card hierarchy chart, which groups graphics cards with similar overall performance levels into tiers. The top tier contains the highest-performing cards available and performance decreases as you go down the tiers from there.

You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two cards, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in performance.

At the request of readers, I have added mobile graphics and integrated chipsets to the hierarchy chart. I want to make it clear that there is very little performance data available for these graphics solutions. While the discrete video cards in the chart are placed in tiers based on a lot of information, many of the mobile and integrated devices in the chart are guesstimates based on their specifications. At worst, I don’t think they’re more than one tier away from their actual performance, but this is something to keep in mind when considering mobile graphics chipsets.

Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart
GeForce	Radeon	Intel
	Discrete: HD 5970
Discrete: GTX 295	Discrete: HD 4870 X2, HD 5870
Discrete: GTX 280, GTX 285	Discrete: HD 4850 X2, HD 5850
Discrete: 9800 GX2, GTX 260, GTX 275	Discrete: HD 4870, HD 4890, HD 5770
Discrete: 8800 Ultra, 9800 GTX, 9800 GTX+, GTS 250	Discrete: HD 3870 X2, HD 4850, HD 5750
Discrete: 8800 GTX, 8800 GTS 512 MB Go (mobile): 280M	Discrete: HD 4770
Discrete: 8800 GT 512 MB, 9800 GT Go (mobile): 260M (112)	Discrete: HD 4830, HD 5670
Discrete: 8800 GTS 640 MB, 9600 GT, GT 240 (GDDR5)	Discrete: HD 2900 XT, HD 3870
Discrete: 8800 GS, 9600 GSO, GT 240 (DDR3) Go (mobile): 260M (96)	Discrete: HD 3850 512 MB, HD 4670 Mobility: 3870
Discrete: 8800 GT 256 MB, 8800 GTS 320 MB, GT 220 Go (mobile): 8800M	Discrete: HD 2900 PRO, HD 3850 256 MB Mobility: 3850
Discrete: 7950 GX2	Discrete: X1950 XTX, HD 4650 (DDR3)
Discrete: 7800 GTX 512, 7900 GTO, 7900 GTX	Discrete: X1900 XT, X1950 XT, X1900 XTX
Discrete: 7800 GTX, 7900 GT, 7950 GT	Discrete: X1800 XT, X1900 AIW, X1900 GT, X1950 PRO, HD 2900 GT
Discrete: 7800 GT, 7900 GS, 8600 GTS, 9500 GT (GDDR3) Go (mobile): 7950 GTX	Discrete: X1800 XL, X1950 GT, HD 4650 (DDR2) Mobility X1800 XT
Discrete: 6800 Ultra, 7600 GT, 7800 GS, 8600 GT (GDDR3), 9500 GT (DDR2) Go (mobile): 7800 GTX, 7900 GTX	Discrete: X800 XT (& PE), X850 XT (& PE), X1650 XT, X1800 GTO, HD 2600 XT, HD 3650 (DDR3), HD 3670, Mobility: X1900, 3670
Discrete: 6800 GT, 6800 GS (PCIe), 8600 GT (DDR2) Go (mobile): 7800, Go 7900 GS	Discrete: X800 XL, X800 GTO2/GTO16, HD 2600 PRO, HD 3650 (DDR2), Mobility: X800 XT, HD 2600 XT, 3650
Discrete: 6800 GS (AGP) Go (mobile): 6800 Ultra, 7600 GT, 8600M GT, 8700M GT	Discrete: X800 GTO 256 MB, X800 PRO, X850 PRO, X1650 GT Mobility: HD 2600
Discrete: 6800, 7300 GT GDDR3, 7600 GS, 8600M GS Go (mobile): 6800, 7700	Discrete: X800, X800 GTO 128 MB, X1600 XT, X1650 PRO Mobility: X1800
Discrete: 6600 GT, 6800LE, 6800 XT, 7300 GT (DDR2), 8500 GT, 9400 GT Go (mobile): 7600 (128-bit)	Discrete: 9800 XT, X700 PRO, X800 GT, X800 SE, X1300 XT, X1600 PRO, HD 2400 XT, HD 4350, HD 4550 Mobility: X800, 3470 Integrated: HD 3300
Discrete: FX 5900, FX 5900 Ultra, FX 5950 Ultra, 6600 (128-bit) Go (mobile): 6800 (128-bit) Integrated: 9300, 9400	Discrete: 9700, 9700 PRO, 9800, 9800 PRO, X700, X1300 PRO, X1550, HD 2400 PRO Mobility: X1450, X1600, X1700, 2400 XT, X2500, 3450 Integrated: HD 3200, HD 4200
Discrete: FX 5800 Ultra, FX 5900 XT Go (mobile): 6600, Go 7600 (64-bit)	Discrete: 9500 PRO, 9600 XT, 9800 PRO (128-bit), X600 XT, X1050 (128-bit) Mobility: 9800, X700, X1350, X1400, X2300, HD 2400
Discrete: 4 Ti 4600, 4 Ti 4800, FX 5700 Ultra, 6200, 8300, 8400 G, G 210, G 310	Discrete: 9600 PRO, 9800 LE, X600 PRO, HD 2300 Mobility: 9700 (128-bit), X600, X1300 Integrated: Xpress 1250
Discrete: 4 Ti4200, 4 Ti4400, 4 Ti4800 SE, FX 5600 Ultra, FX 5700, 6600 (64-bit), 7300 GS, 8400M GS, 9300M G, 9300M GS	Discrete: 9500, 9550, 9600, X300, X1050 (64-bit) Mobility: 9600
Discrete: 3 Ti500, FX 5200 Ultra, FX 5600, FX 5700 LE, 6200 TC, 6600 LE, 7200 GS, 7300 LE Go (mobile): 5700, 8200M, 9200M GS, 9100 Integrated: 8200, 8300	Discrete: 8500, 9100, 9000 PRO, 9600 LE, X300 SE, X1150 Mobility 9700 (64-bit)	GMA X4500
Discrete: 3, 3 Ti200, FX 5200 (128-bit), FX 5500, Go (mobile): 5600, 6200, 6400, 7200, 7300, 7400 (64-bit)	Discrete: 9000, 9200, 9250 Mobility: 9600 (64-bit), X300
Discrete: FX 5200 (64 bit) Go (mobile): 7200, 7400 (32-bit) Integrated: 6100, 6150	Discrete: 9200 SE Integrated: Xpress 200M, Xpress 1000, Xpress 1150	GMA X3000, X3100, X3500
Discrete: 2 GTS, 4 MX 440, 2 Ultra, 2 Ti, 2 Ti 200	Discrete: 7500	GMA 3000, 3100
Discrete: 256, 2 MX 200, 4 MX 420, 2 MX 400	Discrete: SDR, LE, DDR, 7000, 7200	GMA 500, 900, 950
Discrete: Nvidia TNT	Discrete: Rage 128	Intel 740

Summary

There you have it folks; the best cards for the money this month. Now all that’s left to do is to find and purchase them.

Don’t worry too much about which brand you choose, because all of the cards out there are close to Nvidia’s and ATI’s reference designs. Just pay attention to price, warranty, and the manufacturer’s reputation for honoring the warranty if something goes wrong.

Also remember that the stores don’t follow this list. Things will change over the course of the month and you’ll probably have to adapt your buying strategy to deal with fluctuating prices. Good luck!

(http://www.tomshardware.com)

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DDR3 Overclocking: Corsair sets new DDR3 RAM world record

Corsair was able to increase the frequency of its DDR3 modules, which is very high anyway, even further and thus set a new world record.

With a validated memory frequency of 2,533 Megahertz and sharp timings of 7-8-7-20 Corsair was able to overclock the 2,000er modules of the Dominator GT series quite impressively. For the new record attempt only high-end hardware was used. The test system was powered by an 1,000 watt Corsair PSU (HX1000W) and a 256 GB SSD (P256) was used to store the data. A Core i7 Extreme 975 - which isn't available to customers yet - was placed on a EVGA X58 3X SLI Classified, which is regarded to be one of the best overclocking motherboards available at the moment.

Besides the high frequency this record is also interesting because of another reason. Usually only one memory module with an capacity of one GiByte is used for world record attempt, but Corsair was able to reach the results with three 2 GiByte modules. What kind of cooling solution was used or the applied voltage has not been revealed by Corsair, but it is estimated that the recently introduced memory water cooler was used to deal with the increased heat.

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AMD Readies “Thuban” Six-Core Desktop Processor

Advanced Micro Devices is preparing a desktop processor with six processing engines, sources familiar with the company’s plans revealed. The new central processing units (CPUs) will not be available this year, but are likely to boost performance of AMD’s desktop platforms sometime in 2010.

AMD’s processor code-named Thuban is the company’s first desktop processor with six processing engines. The microprocessors will be compatible with socket AM3 infrastructure and will have integrated dual-channel PC3-10600 (DDR3 1333MHz) memory controller. It is very likely that Thuban processors will retain AMD Phenom II brand name as well as design of the code-named Istanbul chips for servers, thus, will feature 3MB L2 cache (512KB per core) and 6MB of L3 cache. The chips will be made using 45nm SOI fabrication process.

Thuban is a star in the constellation of Draco and it also means “dragon” in Arabian language. The new six-core chip should be compatible with existing AM3 infrastructure (and, quite possibly, even with AM2+ infrastructure with split power plane), it remains to be seen whether Thuban becomes a part of AMD’s current high-end desktop platform called Dragon, or will power the company’s next-generation Leo platform.

AMD’s Leo platform will be based on the AMD 890FX and 890GX core-logic sets. The new chipsets will offer better performance and functionality, e.g., they will support Serial ATA-600, 14 Serial ATA 2.0 ports and so on, but both will only hit mass production in April, 2010, and will be formally released in May next year, according to market sources.

Provided that AMD has its Thuban processors ready before May 2010, the company is likely to start shipping them as soon as possible so that to be able to compete for the high-end desktop segment. In fact, it is somewhat surprising that AMD will only be able to offer six-core desktop chip about a year after it started to ship six-core chips for servers. Nevertheless, based on currently available information, AMD Thuban is due only in Q3 2010.

At present AMD does not position its six-core Opteron processors even for single-socket workstations and recommends its customers among makers of dual-socket workstations to stick to quad-core chips due to their higher clock-speeds compared to existing six-core central processing units. At present AMD’s highest-performance six-core chips operate at 2.80GHz, meanwhile, the fastest quad-core CPUs function at 3.40GHz.

With six physical cores AMD will be able to demonstrate rather high performance in multi-tasking and applications that need to execute numerous threads at once. Moreover, as future video games that rely on DirectX 11 start to arrive, the advantages provided by six-core Thuban and Istanbul processors will be even more apparent.

Intel Corp., the larger rival of AMD, plans to unveil its six-core code-named Gulftown chips for desktops in Q2 2010.

(http://www.xbitlabs.com)

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Intel Reveals Core i3, i5, i7 CPU Naming System

Lynnfield, Clarksfield, Arrandale, Clarkdale – all codenames for upcoming Intel chips based on the latest architecture and all very confusing.

Today we know that the “Core” family for the performance segment goes mainly from Core 2 Duo to Core 2 Quad all the way to the top with Core i7. But with Core 2 on the way out to be replaced by new CPUs later this year, Intel needs to sort out its naming and branding conventions to that consumers will be able to figure out what they’re buying.

Intel corporate communications manager Bill Calder wrote in a blog post, “Today the Intel Core brand has a mind boggling array of derivatives (such as Core2 Duo and Core 2 Quad, etc). Over time those will go away and in its place will be a simplified family of Core processors spanning multiple levels: Intel Core i3 processor, Intel Core i5 processor, and Intel Core i7 processors.”

“Core i3 and Core i5 are new modifiers and join the previously announced Intel Core i7 to round out the family structure. It is important to note that these are not brands but modifiers to the Intel Core brand that signal different features and benefits,” Calder added.

The new Core line will be naturally be position from bottom to top Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7. The odd-numbers convention makes sense with the possibility that some consumers may confused Core 2 Duo and Quad with 2 and 4.

The desktop processors codenamed Lynnfield, which are due this fall, will marketed as both Core i5 or Core i7, depending upon the feature set and capability. Interestingly, all Clarksfield mobile chips will have the Core i7 name.

The lower-cost line will remain mostly unchanged with the Celeron being the entry point, the Pentium for basic computing and the Atom doing what it’s been doing to the netbook and MID segment.

“For PC purchasing, think in terms of good-better-best with Celeron being good, Pentium better, and the Intel Core family representing the best we have to offer,” said Calder. “This will be an evolutionary process taking place over time, and we acknowledge that multiple brands will be in the market next year including older ones, as we make the transition. But overall this is a good thing, designed to make it easier and more rational over the long run.”

Source : Tom's Hardware US

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