AMD Thuban Hex Core in May???

[FlyingFish]

I heard from an AMD rep that apparently 8 core processors will be coming out soon too.

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by FlyingFish

I heard from an AMD rep that apparently 8 core processors will be coming out soon too.

I wouldn't bet on seeing any retail 8-core AMD CPUs on their current manufacturing process. That would be at least a year out if it's even on the roadmap altogether (and by that time hopefully Bulldozer will be out anyway).

[BootlegUsher]

How good will these new hexcore processors even be for gaming? Are games even using 4 cores these days?

[Kovok]

I've got a 550 unlocked and oc'ed to 3.4ghz, but I sure miss having a temp sensor. It also doesn't go any higher than 3.4ghz. I've been thinking about going for a 965 but now that these are on their way I might just have to wait.

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by BootlegUsher

How good will these new hexcore processors even be for gaming? Are games even using 4 cores these days?

They won't be any better for gaming than quads are for the most part. There are a number of games that can use four cores, but few of them actually need that much power and the vast majority will run fine on a dual-core CPU. Although for other reasons, I would recommend a quad-core CPU or more for a high-end build.

[Arinoth]

Is it sad the first thing i think of when i read new hardware releases (cpu or gpu) my first question is what kind of ppd can the sucker output?

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by Arinoth

Is it sad the first thing i think of when i read new hardware releases (cpu or gpu) my first question is what kind of ppd can the sucker output?

Unfortunately, AMD PPD is not looking very promising with SMP2. Phenom 2 quads seem to top out at around 6000PPD whereas a C2Q at similar speeds reaches around 8000PPD. A 6-core AMD CPU would probably push a bit more PPD than a C2Q, but less than an i5 and much less than an i7.

[MarkOne]