Originally posted by sammorris:

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I was never happy with how Windows Media Player handled HD playback. I just watched Kung Fu Panda in 1080p, and after disabling Flashget's sounds, it wasn't too problematic, the sound never cut off, though VLC (the only program I've figured out how to get in proper dts so far) paused momentarily on a few occasions, as it sometimes does. I find it funny that my PC mainly uses 9-14% CPU usage to play full bitrate HD video - my server's X2 4200+ runs 50-90%...

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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Yeah I'm very tempted to try out PowerDVD again, I saw a fair few positive reviews about it for dts.

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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Agreed on the sound quality of PowerDVD, it's that 'stuff you never heard before' all over again. However, Optical can still never be a mainstay on my PC, as I need Analog audio to get surround sound via games.

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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Optical does not support surround sound natively, it has to be set bitstream which requires complete decoding at the PC's end, and a signal stating that 5.1 is used. Games do not decode their digital audio like media players do, so the speakers will only ever receive the front speaker channel.

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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A nice looking board, but fundamentally incompatible with the HD4870X2 I notice - with that card installed, since it uses the same SB heatsink as the X38-DS4, the card will not fit in the top slot, so when it's in the bottom slot, four of the S-ATA ports will be blocked. Two S-ATA ports for a board isn't great...

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/23/amd-phenom-ii-processor-bought-benchmarked-coveted/

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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How do you know that? Not saying you're wrong, but what basis is that on? Are they going to release the chips to retail initially without?

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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Do they need to? I've already seen how the Phenom IIs will perform, and it's nothing to write home about. Maybe I'm blinded by fanboyism, but I've yet to be convinced that HKMG will be the magic bullet AMD need to get them to match Intel's second generation quad cores, let alone their third. Right now everything points to AMD's best phenom being around the level of the Q9300, Intel's one-from-bottom 45nm Quad core. The only advantage AMD will have is if the Phenom II is noticeably less than $270. It'll take a 40% performance boost to get the best Phenom II to match the lowest Core i7 CPU - and I notice the 920 is now priced at a relatively reasonable $300. The only downside is the cost of the rest of the architecture. If Intel pull their finger out and release an affordable LGA1366 chipset, AMD will be left in the dust again.

Don't think for a minute that I don't want AMD to become competitive, it's best for everyone if they do, but I personally think Phenom II is a tiny drop in the ocean compared to the giant gap AMD have to bridge.

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Originally posted by spamual:

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you say that its a bad thing that intel HAD to use HKMG to get to 45nm.... whys is so bad.

Quote:

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Shaff,I'm going to fill in the blanks below and bold the first word of my answers.

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To answer the first question. It's not a bad thing, rather something that became a necessity for Intel. With their chip architecture there was no other way to get down to 45nm. Not only that, Phenom II showed that it can scale and overclock well without it! This has nothing to do with CPU speed at all. It does have everything to do with whatever speed they decide to run it at. It will overclock like a Fiend! Since the architecture was designed with that in mind, it doesn't have to be fit in somewhere as a necessity. For AMD, the benefits are obvious and there's still room left in the architecture for addition of future technologies!
great chips with brilliant OCablility :)
Yes they are but the case with the Core i7s is the overall cost! Certainly no one here is going to build with Cas 9 memory. It will be Cas 7 or Cas 6! Then there's that high priced MB to consider too!

why is it good that oems decide to buy hugely into intel rather than amd?
OEM manufacturer's go with what's popular at the moment. The fastest growing OEM market at the moment is AM2+/AM2 780G/790G motherboards. Newegg currently lists 139, 85 of which are AMD Chipsets. That's more than double what it was, just a few months ago and triple what the AMDs had then!

amd shot themselves in the foot. simply put. its not good that, yes later on in the year they can get better, becuase by that time intel can drop the prices of york fields and i7 alot. they could introduce the P55 early, with new proccessors which can use DDR2.
AMD's schedule has been around for a while now and at the moment they are ahead of schedule! It's the reason the head guy at Google has put their scheduled server upgrades and replacements on hold for right now. Everybody wants to see what the latest Phenom IIs can do and what the deal will be if you get the original.

people within a few months can go out and buy an x48 or p45 and a Q9550 or Q6600 and get great OCs and it will be more than enough for alot of things.
It doesn't matter what the "people" can do. The fact remains that AMD should wind up being competitive clock for clock with them, so people again will have a real choice!

or people with those sytems already who want an upgrade will go to i7 as it is, because they want more power, and in the end DDR3 will be needed.
Again, cost will be the biggest issue. Besides, the Phenom II is compatible with both DDR2 and DDR3, just pop in an AM3 MB and some DDR3. We will probably see some motherboards with both for the consumer market. All of these seemingly little things add up to lower cost upgrades in the server market, and that along with OEM is where Intel and AMD make their real money! Gains there are magnified in the consumer market and that includes us enthusiasts.

for AMD DDR3, you will need to buy a new mobo and DDR3 aswell..... huh....
That's true, but the Phenom II supports both. Anyone with AM2+ servers now can upgrade for the cost of the CPUs, and wait for times to get better to upgrade to AM3 and DDR3

and umm speaking of upgrading costs, for anyone who does wait, alot are intel users with P4/C2D (who would pop in a 45nm) or go AMD DDR3 and new mobo and RAM or DDR2 with new mobo.
That's why I say that Power consumption is going to be the key issue!

even AM2 users, unless they have the good 790GX chipset and want to OC will need to upgrade their mobo.
There are no AM2 Good AMD chipsets. Anybody with a 780G/790G is on AM2+ already.

until do get of their arses, why give praise on false hope?
With all due respect, I've been waiting for that question. Is it false hope that the hottest thing in computers right now is the rush to get more 780G/790G motherboards manufactured? The Growth has been phenomenal! Since 01/01/08 AMD chipset share has grown from 6% to 20%. Newegg has 85 AMD chipped motherboards for sale at the moment, all but a few of them 780/790 chipsetd. Compare that to only a few months ago when they had 26! Somebody must know something we don't!

i am wanting the GTX 295, and hopeing it will be good so i can upgrade, but saying facts without backing it up is BS.
I don't think you mean me with the video card, but the facts we know are well documented as well as the math. I can't seriously consider that BS!

i do hope AMD get back in the game, as ATI have done, and then nvidia hopefully do, as for the consumer its great, but untill they do, dont go with them :D

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