Thursday, December 6th 2007

Phenom BIOS Fix Causes 14% Performance Hit

As many readers may be aware, there is an erratum (a mistake in the design) of AMD's recently launched Phenom CPU. Basically it's a problem with the CPU's translation lookaside buffer (TLB) and L3 cache, which can lead to crashes and data corruption. This was quickly discovered, and AMD issued a BIOS fix in response. However, recent tests carried out by The Tech Report found that as a result of this fix, memory bandwidth fell by as much as 38.7% whilst the latency increased by over 50%. When they tested the real world performance hit caused by this, they found it ranged from around 5% to as much as 50% in everyday applications, with an average performance drop of 13.9%. This issue should be fixed in any CPUs manufactured in the future, but things look quite bleak for anyone who has already purchased a Phenom processor, and it would be best not to buy one until all of the 'faulty' processors have either been sold or recalled. This is very bad news for AMD, considering that it has already been struggling to make a profit for quite a few months now.
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37 Comments on Phenom BIOS Fix Causes 14% Performance Hit

#26
MilkyWay
Well everyone is looking at the top end cpu i still think that for mid range amd is fine, id rather buy a mid range ati graphics card anyway they have generally the best mid range except for the 16xx series and hd 2600 series those sucked.

Anyway i never buy top range stuff because in only a few months a better cpu, graphics card, mobo, sound card all the other components there will be a better version at the price of the old one.

If AMD could get out a good top range cpu you know maybe equal in performance or just less then i bet nobody would give a fuck honestly i think its about price although some stupid people will just buy the ultra top range all the time, so in 5 months they just upgrade and move the old cpu into another pc.

Really Intel clock good and have loads of cache, AMD try to go for a lower price and less power usage, i heard somewhere if the phenom could clock to ultra high speeds it could do good?
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#27
suraswami
I see a big bonus being passed on to Retailers to get rid of those cpus (if AMD doesn't want to recall them). In that case retailers will be selling them at throw away prices. I will be first in line to grab one of those.

I always buy AMD. Even if they struggle to produce a top notch for now I will still buy them to support them.

After Christmas I am in line at Frys for that big clearance sale.

Got the following at their last clearance

AM2 Retail procs
X2 3800 brand new $50 (newegg price around $80)
A64 3200 brand new $20 (newegg - $45)
A64 3500 brand new $30 (newegg - $55)

So I am expecting this to be around $125 to $150.

hoo my hands are itchy to buy one.:D
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#28
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
Simple Fix, get rid of the L3 cache in later models and Refine the K8 Arch
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#29
DaMulta
My stars went supernova
mandelorenoooooooooo... A-T-I GFX card, dont jinx em by saying they are AMD :p
But it is AMD.....ATi is a brand name
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#30
cdawall
where the hell are my stars
i look at it this way every switch has issues fix them and get over it maybe in Q2 AMD will be back on top but if i were buying stock AMD has to be rock bottom right now and when Phenom X2/3 will bump that up a good bit :D
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#31
[I.R.A]_FBi
DaMultaBut it is AMD.....ATi is a brand name
:slap: no it is NOT
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#32
Chewy
I think the 3850/70 has lots to offer dx10.1 shader support is a great offering now concidering this will be the only update to dx10 and thier card already has it... but yes Amd is missing a high end gpu for high res gamers that can compete well with gtx/ultras... I would buy a 3850 for a media center pc that I wanted to do some gaming on aswell... it works.
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#33
largon
[I.R.A]_FBi:slap: no it is NOT
News flash!

Advanced Micro Devices acquires ATi technologies
(July 24, 2006)

"ATi Radeon" is now nothing but a graphics brand of AMD.
Posted on Reply
#34
bigboi86
OrbitzXTHonestly, what is the point of liking a company?
If noone supported AMD and Intel had a monopoly... that would mean bad news for every consumer.

The point of liking a company, is to show support, and to make that company better. I'd rather support a company with good ethics and isn't trying to make you pay out the ass for a good chip.
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#35
[I.R.A]_FBi
largonNews flash!

Advanced Micro Devices acquires ATi technologies
(July 24, 2006)

"ATi Radeon" is now nothing but a graphics brand of AMD.
nooo dont say it, mine you obeah ATi
Posted on Reply
#36
jpierce55
My concern is Intel taking over. I can almost guarantee that my next processor will be Intel, and the next g-card Nvidia. I hate that, but right now it looks like I would have been best served with the Nvidia.
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#37
newconroer
wickerman........

First generation products are generally a "dont buy", I'll bet AMD will have success with their quad cores, but right now...once again, intel has the faster product. Big drops in performance due to a bug fix is not gunna go over well, even if the price was dropped further. AMD needs a bit help right now thats for sure :(
You are correct about not buying first generation products, but this, among other issues means that AMD most likely will NOT have success, except in a small corner of the market with the platform approach (OEM seems most beneficial). With Intel's most basic and 'first generation' Q (not even native quad...) outperforming Phenom, they've got to combat against the Penryns AND worse, the new Nehalem architecture next year.

If AMD had released something that was at least 10-15% better than a current Intel Q, then things would look 'promising.'

As it is, ....;whistle;...bad


|The point of liking a company, is to show support, and to make that company better. I'd rather support a company with good ethics and isn't trying to make you pay out the ass for a good chip.|

That's the thing though, it's often NOT about ethics or morals. People support the under-dog, or in this case AMD, for the same reason they don't want Intel to have a monopoly - money. If Intel puts out sub-standard performing parts for XXX.XXX price, then you feel as if your wasting/losing money.

I'd like to believe that every AMD supporter is in it, because they enjoy AMD's architectural designs and concepts/ideas, but 80% of them don't even know what those things are, and another 10% are just irrelevant fan-boy geeks. So that leaves 10% true enthusiasts, who are knowledgable, ethical and moral; yet that's hardly enough 'support,' to dent the current trend(s).


I only see AMD having success in one area, and that's Unix/Linux platforms. They need to get together with someone like Sun, and start trying to break down the walls between developers and Linux. It would be like Mac vs PC, where they build a whole platform, that's compatible and optimized for Unix/Linux. It would be slow at first, but eventually, if they could get developers on their side, it would compete against Windows/Microsoft, and maybe even take away competition from Intel. Ultimatley though, battling Intel head on spec vs. spec isn't going to lead to anything positive.
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