Buying systems with 2GB of RAM and a 128MB-256MB video card isn’t a big deal. The question mark happens when you consider CPUs. Purchasing a a 32-bit CPU vs. a 64-bit CPU is the issue. 32-bit silicon is enough to run Vista, but we definitely like the 64-bit performance. Only trouble is, if you buy a 64-bit CPU today, you’re either wasting it on Windows XP 32-bit, or you’re dealing with loads of driver issues if you opt for Windows XP x64.

My advice is to buy the 64-bit CPU now, run it in 32-bit mode and then move up to a 64-bit OS with the swap to Vista.

SMB IT | InfoWorld | Vista Hardware: What to Buy Today for Tomorrow’s OS | June 5, 2006 05:16 PM | By Oliver Rist

Well, Socket AM2 isn’t going to set the world on fire with its amazing speed boost compared to Socket 939. The move to DDR2 memory is an upgrade, but a very minor one in terms of overall performance. Memory bandwidth is obviously, stupendously improved with Socket AM2, and memory latency is actually a little lower, too. Unfortunately, these changes only translate into tangible gains in a handful of our application benchmarks. Games and video encoding tests seem to make the most use of Socket AM2’s additional bandwidth, as well as our speech recognition benchmark and a few others. Many other applications show no improvement at all. Socket AM2 does bring lower power consumption at idle than Socket 939, but that advantage seems to evaporate when the CPU is busy, in spite of the lower TDP ratings for the newer CPUs.

For now, that’s good enough. Intel’s Pentium D and Extreme Edition processors simply can’t keep up with the Athlon 64 X2. The two new speed grades, the Athlon 64 X2 5000 and FX-62, only extend AMD’s performance lead, and the FX-62 dominates the current crop of desktop PC processors.

AMD’s Socket AM2 processors - The Tech Report - Page 17

Intel will offer Intel Core 2 micro-architecture for cost effective computers starting from the second quarter 2006, if a report published by an Asian web-site is to be believed. The new chips are currently called Conroe-L and offer only one processing engines, not two, as more advanced Conroe brethren.

While the branding is to be decided, according to slides published, it is highly-likely that the value chips based on the Core 2 micro-architecture will be sold under Core 2 Solo trademark. The slides, which are believed to be leaked by mainboard makers to HKEPC web-site, also imply that the code-named Conroe-L products will be substitute not only Pentium 4 processors, but also Celeron D chips. Permalink

It was once uncommon to see servers running Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Opteron processors in IT shops that heavily favored the Windows operating system. But Windows managers no longer rely exclusively on machines with processors made by Intel Corp. Joan Goodchild met with Barry Crume, AMD’s Microsoft Alliance director, at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, for his perspective on new trends in Windows hardware, Vista and virtualization.

SearchWinIT.com: Your job, as you describe it, is to make sure AMD and Microsoft products work together. What have you been collaborating on recently

Barry Crume: We are helping Microsoft make all their products with a clear bias toward 64-bit and dual core processors. Recently a lot of the emphasis has been on Vista and it has been exciting to have the challenge of solving some of the complexities of developing an operating system. Developing complex code takes engineers a lot of time and [a lot of testing]. Million-line code problems are tough to solve. It may have complexity on the back side, which means you need a lot of computing horsepower. But at end of day, if it is easy to understand, then we have solved the problem.

AMD chips signal new era in Windows shops

The digital living room has a new guest.

AMD introduced its Live! brand for consumer PCs into the home, saying it will provide a better multimedia experience with a different approach than Intel’s.
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