Also high on my list is hard drive and RAID performance. Reviewing individual drives is well and good, but I'd like to see the performance advantages/disadvantages of more elaborate setups. RAID 0/1/5 on current Intel and nVidia platforms, if possible compared not only to each other but also higher end cards like the Areca PCIe cards.
I'd really like to see how various processors perform at compiling software, as that is what I spend the vast majority of my notable CPU time on. (C++ using gcc, for what it's worth -- don't know how much this would vary by language and compiler).
I dont know if its too late to post a comment here, but i was wondering if it would be at all possible for some performance reviews and benchmarks etc on the new virtualization features of both the Intel and AMD processors.
And in fact, if the in-built VT features do actually make a difference?
And perhaps we could see if there is an improvement in performance, in say, VMWARE Workstation or Server?
I would be very interested ina Mac Pro review after they announce it during the Developers Conference. I want to know how it works with Windows in both modes -Boot Camp and vitual machine. Other motherboards show the new intel processors can be overclocked quite a bit. I doubt that Apple will coninue the liquid cooling, but the new chips with that cooling might overclock hugely!
I intend to get this machine as a dual-use workstation for my CAD work. I am sick of building my own and the hassles that come with it compared to the great user support at a local genius bar attached with an extended warrantee. If they ever port Pro/Engineer to OS X I will be in heaven. =)
Article ideas:
- mainstream custom watercooling (reasonable price/performance using off-the-shelf components)
- Power Supply Roundup (sorely needed, IMHO, especially with a look at what capacitors are in what PSUs)
This is in no way related to your blog, although I do find these pricing cuts very interesting to rival performance. Also: another scenario could be that graphics cards, like in your Conroe buying guide, don't perform as well on the Intel chipset as they do on and AMD platform, as it is apparent with the ATI X19000XTX's in some cases. Not probable, but possible.
But to my main point:
When "you" talk about value memory in the Conroe Buying guide, there is a mistake. You list the Mushkin as the only memory with the Infineon chips in the chart, but you say its the Kingsinton later in the article. Nothing big, just noticable.
QUALITY moderation on the forums would help too. It might not draw traffic and thus ad revenue, but at least it'll reduce the number of quality members who are driven away.
I would love to see more enterprise reviews. The server reviews with the db benchmarks were excellent, and are something that few other sites are doing. A review of SAN storage devices would be great also. Large USB storage, NAS (like Infrant's ReadyNAS products), and SAN system reviews would be great. There are very few good reviews of these devices and these devices are quickly moving into the home and small business market.
Hi, great to see a new blog post!
Ofcourse we knew you were alive, cause if something had happened that would be on every major news website...
My request would be that you write a usability review of the net VT/Pacifica goodness in the Core2 and AMD's socket AM2 chips. The stuff that other websites have produced on this topic is completely incomprehensible for a techy without a computer-science degree :)
For a while now I've considered AnandTech's overclocking tests lacking compared to other sites. You don't need to break out the liquid nitrogen every time a new model or core revision comes out... but it would be nice to see AT push a processor to it's limits and put up some insane numbers just for kicks like other sites do.
Along with that idea, I'd like to see more enthusiast type articles. For a while now AT has felt like a news site, not an enthusiast site. Show us minimum frame rates, image quality comparisons, and some nerdy stuff like an article about the Core architecture and what makes it perform better than other architectures... and what could or should be changed about other architectures like the K8 to make it competative with Core. Would be nice to see that kinda stuff here so I don't have to go to other sites like Ars or HOCP.
I've been reading/studying everything I could find on the 'Conroe' for the last month or so -- blogs, boards, clocker sites, press releases, you name it. Your Core 2 'birthday' report was 'dead nuts on' Anand! Best one on the web, IMHO! Really! Kudos, my friend!
Truely, 'The Empire Strikes Back', both Intel and Anandtech!!! :)
I know that this isn't a typical anandtech article but I've been dying for a comparison between macs and pcs running OS X. I've messed around some with OS X on my PC but my hardware config has a lot of components which are incompatible with the Apple OS. It would be really great to be able to build a hackbook pro at a greatly reduced price.
As awesome new video cards aren't coming before autumn, new Apple things aren't coming before WWDC either, and you just reviewed the Core 2s, which are the only other exciting things I can think of right now, I don't have many ideas. Maybe do a preview of Vista (with actual substance, benchmarks etc. even if the OS is still beta, not just another regurgitated press release).
Or switch to Linux for a while (I'm thinking Ubuntu), and then do a big article about it, like you did for the Mac. I assume this would be beyond the scope of 'what article should I write', though. I can probably guess the conclusion, too, (tons of progress, not quite there yet), but I'd love to see an independent analysis from someone I can trust. (Which is basically you, and the Ars Technica folks. And TR, but they don't do OS reviews, or anything besides Windows for that matter.)
Welcome back Anand and fantastic work on the Core 2 Duo Launch article! I can't imagine how much work that took.
I was wondering if someone at Anandtech will be looking into the supposed RAID issues and IO performance problems 'supposedly' plaguing the Woodcrest/Conroe. The only things I've been able to dig up on this is from the following two links, it'd be interesting to see a good writeup/exploration of this issue I think. The Inquirer is always 'interesting' but I'd like to see some actual testing done to confirm or dismiss all of this.
I was sort of worried about where you had gotten off to, glad to hear you have moved into the new place and that all is going well.
The Conroe article is great. One of the best in a long time. Keep up the great work. The Conroe is a excellent CPU. I can't wait to get a hold of one. Thanks for another great review.
Very entertaing aticle title for C2D Anand. I would like to thank you for varying the content of the review as opposed to other sites. Well worth the wait.
I think we would all like to see a simulated 4x4. Two Opteron 285’s against Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800. If the price is right, I wonder how competative AMD could be?
i agree. test the major distros. and see about basics. like poping in a disc and see how far an average tech junkie can get. sure using ./configure and make to install programs is considered reasonable. also i want to see the status on wireless drivers for linux :D
I agree as well...one of the most asked questions I've had lately is "how hard would it be for an average consumer to use Linux?". It's a hard one for me as I don't know how objective I could be on it...
A truly great article (and a massive one too...) would be a "how to" and "what with" of Linux for Joe Six Pack. Include driver installation, apps, 64 or 32 bit, what platform is easier, etc...
I've recently built my first media server with Linux, and it was both harder and easier than I expected (it didn't help that half of the clients were Macs and the other half PCs...)
You used to make articles about the Mac world as seen by someone who just bought a Mac (you :) ). An article about Linux in the same perspective would be nice too.
Also, I liked the hardware/software articles describing the Anandtech web server farm. Do you happen to want to upgrade something to Core2/Core Xeon?
She's not saying - just that Anand is unable to consider himself learning so much from so many sources to be a possible work for him.
I know I couldn't be a doctor, after seeing how much my gf need to study (and after seeing all the medicine books in her library, you could stack them from floor to ceiling - and sometimes she needs to borrow a book or another)
I've hated intel since my first K6-2 blew away my pentium box. But, after having read nearly 35 articles and reviews, I'm so excited to get a core 2. Not only does this mean that Intel is offering next-gen proccy power at an affordable price. But, now, AMD has to answer back which means we'll be making another huge jump in 07-08 (I hope, for AMD's sake).
Thank you so much! I'm building a new PC before I head back to school and I've had my eyes set on that E6600 for overclocking and no one has tried it. I read every article I could find. Finally, you did it! Plus, it sounds even better than I had hoped! Again, thank you.
I'm fully agreeing with the need for core 2 mobo reviews as being a very, very helpful thing for the future. However, all one can do for the time being is compare the various intel sets, so I don't see a point right now. I've got my fingers crossed for nVidia.
Thank you, again, for the excellent review.
AnandTech & Intel FTW.
im glad you're working the beat again with the new article. i was also wondering what happened to the blog, i thought you didn't care about us. im not sure what i want to say to the big Anand, but have a good weekend!
oh, blu-ray and hd-dvd stuff is really cool, i was wondering if u were gunna show some screenies of the quality? and im having a really hard time accepting intel as the new leader. :P it just doesn't seem as leet.
i'd like to also see more overclocking info on the Core 2's, mainly the lower end SKUs. I know they will be FSB limited because their mulitplier is locked. Also, a Core 2 motherboard roundup would be great too. There have been many AM2 motherboard articles, but nearly nothing on the Core 2's.
I really did enjoy the Core 2 article. Twas a master piece :-). I kinda feel sorry for AMD, how the two big things they really had going for them are now, pretty much gone.
For the future, as I am sure you are aware, Apple's WWDC is comming up soon. It would be great to see a review of their new Mac Pros and ESPECIALLY the MacBook. I only say that because most of the reviews I have read of the macBook have left me only with more questions, and I like the reviews that come from yonder site. Also, maybe a little bit of your input on the up-and comming OSX refresh (10.5) would be cool too.
Digital Cameras too. There havent been any reviews from that category in a loooong time. Maybe you have given up on it, thats ok. But if not, it would be nice to get some new reviews too.
I think i have placed down enough of my desires here... good luck, and as always, keep up the good work!
1) A bit more of a price/performance/overclocking analysis of the new processors. The highest-end gets most of the ink at tech sites these days, but I reckon its only a small subset even of the techy crowd here who'll go for the most expensive hardware.
2) An update on the CPU Cooler situation. A lot of people want fast, reliable PCs which also aren't too noisy. Somehow this issue mainly seems to be addressed by the smaller tech sites. I think there's an opening here :)
3) A preview of DirectX 10 and the new graphics cards due out in the next 6 months. Some idea of features, the kind of visual improvements to come and maybe even the kind of performance improvements we might expect from the new cards in the current generation of games, and some idea if the tales of Kilowatt powersupplies are myth or reality!
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40 Comments
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Houdani - Friday, July 21, 2006 - link
Wish List:. How to build a silent PC
. How to build a media server
. How to build an DVR with HD & CableCard
I know there are other sites dedicated to such things, but I'd like to see AnandTech take a stab at these.
JB1592 - Friday, July 28, 2006 - link
These suggestions are good.Also high on my list is hard drive and RAID performance. Reviewing individual drives is well and good, but I'd like to see the performance advantages/disadvantages of more elaborate setups. RAID 0/1/5 on current Intel and nVidia platforms, if possible compared not only to each other but also higher end cards like the Areca PCIe cards.
Illissius - Friday, July 21, 2006 - link
I'd really like to see how various processors perform at compiling software, as that is what I spend the vast majority of my notable CPU time on. (C++ using gcc, for what it's worth -- don't know how much this would vary by language and compiler).eemo - Friday, July 21, 2006 - link
Hi,I dont know if its too late to post a comment here, but i was wondering if it would be at all possible for some performance reviews and benchmarks etc on the new virtualization features of both the Intel and AMD processors.
And in fact, if the in-built VT features do actually make a difference?
And perhaps we could see if there is an improvement in performance, in say, VMWARE Workstation or Server?
Would really appreciate it, Thank you
Konq - Thursday, July 20, 2006 - link
I would be very interested ina Mac Pro review after they announce it during the Developers Conference. I want to know how it works with Windows in both modes -Boot Camp and vitual machine. Other motherboards show the new intel processors can be overclocked quite a bit. I doubt that Apple will coninue the liquid cooling, but the new chips with that cooling might overclock hugely!I intend to get this machine as a dual-use workstation for my CAD work. I am sick of building my own and the hassles that come with it compared to the great user support at a local genius bar attached with an extended warrantee. If they ever port Pro/Engineer to OS X I will be in heaven. =)
soydios - Thursday, July 20, 2006 - link
Article ideas:- mainstream custom watercooling (reasonable price/performance using off-the-shelf components)
- Power Supply Roundup (sorely needed, IMHO, especially with a look at what capacitors are in what PSUs)
cepher2101 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
This is in no way related to your blog, although I do find these pricing cuts very interesting to rival performance. Also: another scenario could be that graphics cards, like in your Conroe buying guide, don't perform as well on the Intel chipset as they do on and AMD platform, as it is apparent with the ATI X19000XTX's in some cases. Not probable, but possible.But to my main point:
When "you" talk about value memory in the Conroe Buying guide, there is a mistake. You list the Mushkin as the only memory with the Infineon chips in the chart, but you say its the Kingsinton later in the article. Nothing big, just noticable.
livelouddiefast - Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - link
While i imagine it's due to merom not yet being out, I'd like to get a turion x2 vs. merom or even core duo comparision.also, second that on intel em64t vs. amd 64.
both would be helpful as i ponder laptop choices for grad school next year.
Jeff7181 - Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - link
QUALITY moderation on the forums would help too. It might not draw traffic and thus ad revenue, but at least it'll reduce the number of quality members who are driven away.Quality > Quantity
puffpio - Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - link
When you review the EE AMD CPU's, see how they overclock..particularly if you bump the voltage to non EE levels..also benchmarks for overclocked core 2 duo's....
review of shuttle's upcoming SFF for core 2 duo's..
Whohangs - Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - link
I would love to see more enterprise reviews. The server reviews with the db benchmarks were excellent, and are something that few other sites are doing. A review of SAN storage devices would be great also. Large USB storage, NAS (like Infrant's ReadyNAS products), and SAN system reviews would be great. There are very few good reviews of these devices and these devices are quickly moving into the home and small business market.OBCT - Monday, July 17, 2006 - link
How about some reviews of the ATI AM2 motherboards? Heh.Patsoe - Monday, July 17, 2006 - link
Hi, great to see a new blog post!Ofcourse we knew you were alive, cause if something had happened that would be on every major news website...
My request would be that you write a usability review of the net VT/Pacifica goodness in the Core2 and AMD's socket AM2 chips. The stuff that other websites have produced on this topic is completely incomprehensible for a techy without a computer-science degree :)
Please? Thanks!
Patsoe - Monday, July 17, 2006 - link
typo... net -> newJeff7181 - Monday, July 17, 2006 - link
For a while now I've considered AnandTech's overclocking tests lacking compared to other sites. You don't need to break out the liquid nitrogen every time a new model or core revision comes out... but it would be nice to see AT push a processor to it's limits and put up some insane numbers just for kicks like other sites do.Along with that idea, I'd like to see more enthusiast type articles. For a while now AT has felt like a news site, not an enthusiast site. Show us minimum frame rates, image quality comparisons, and some nerdy stuff like an article about the Core architecture and what makes it perform better than other architectures... and what could or should be changed about other architectures like the K8 to make it competative with Core. Would be nice to see that kinda stuff here so I don't have to go to other sites like Ars or HOCP.
VinDSL - Saturday, July 15, 2006 - link
I've been reading/studying everything I could find on the 'Conroe' for the last month or so -- blogs, boards, clocker sites, press releases, you name it. Your Core 2 'birthday' report was 'dead nuts on' Anand! Best one on the web, IMHO! Really! Kudos, my friend!Truely, 'The Empire Strikes Back', both Intel and Anandtech!!! :)
contractcooker - Saturday, July 15, 2006 - link
I know that this isn't a typical anandtech article but I've been dying for a comparison between macs and pcs running OS X. I've messed around some with OS X on my PC but my hardware config has a lot of components which are incompatible with the Apple OS. It would be really great to be able to build a hackbook pro at a greatly reduced price.Illissius - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
As awesome new video cards aren't coming before autumn, new Apple things aren't coming before WWDC either, and you just reviewed the Core 2s, which are the only other exciting things I can think of right now, I don't have many ideas. Maybe do a preview of Vista (with actual substance, benchmarks etc. even if the OS is still beta, not just another regurgitated press release).Or switch to Linux for a while (I'm thinking Ubuntu), and then do a big article about it, like you did for the Mac. I assume this would be beyond the scope of 'what article should I write', though. I can probably guess the conclusion, too, (tons of progress, not quite there yet), but I'd love to see an independent analysis from someone I can trust. (Which is basically you, and the Ars Technica folks. And TR, but they don't do OS reviews, or anything besides Windows for that matter.)
athfbum - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
I would like to see an overclocking guide to the Core 2 Duo E6300vaystrem - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Welcome back Anand and fantastic work on the Core 2 Duo Launch article! I can't imagine how much work that took.I was wondering if someone at Anandtech will be looking into the supposed RAID issues and IO performance problems 'supposedly' plaguing the Woodcrest/Conroe. The only things I've been able to dig up on this is from the following two links, it'd be interesting to see a good writeup/exploration of this issue I think. The Inquirer is always 'interesting' but I'd like to see some actual testing done to confirm or dismiss all of this.
http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32818">Article 1
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32...">Article 2
Dennis Travis - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
I was sort of worried about where you had gotten off to, glad to hear you have moved into the new place and that all is going well.The Conroe article is great. One of the best in a long time. Keep up the great work. The Conroe is a excellent CPU. I can't wait to get a hold of one. Thanks for another great review.
Spoonbender - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
I'd really like to see some benchmarks of Conroe's 64 bit performance. Seems everyone have completely ignored that until now, including Intel.CrystalBay - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Very entertaing aticle title for C2D Anand. I would like to thank you for varying the content of the review as opposed to other sites. Well worth the wait.TBone64 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
I think we would all like to see a simulated 4x4. Two Opteron 285’s against Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800. If the price is right, I wonder how competative AMD could be?xtknight - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
More LCD display reviews and Linux articles! :)MGSsancho - Sunday, July 16, 2006 - link
i agree. test the major distros. and see about basics. like poping in a disc and see how far an average tech junkie can get. sure using ./configure and make to install programs is considered reasonable. also i want to see the status on wireless drivers for linux :DViditor - Monday, July 17, 2006 - link
I agree as well...one of the most asked questions I've had lately is "how hard would it be for an average consumer to use Linux?". It's a hard one for me as I don't know how objective I could be on it...A truly great article (and a massive one too...) would be a "how to" and "what with" of Linux for Joe Six Pack. Include driver installation, apps, 64 or 32 bit, what platform is easier, etc...
I've recently built my first media server with Linux, and it was both harder and easier than I expected (it didn't help that half of the clients were Macs and the other half PCs...)
Calin - Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - link
You used to make articles about the Mac world as seen by someone who just bought a Mac (you :) ). An article about Linux in the same perspective would be nice too.Also, I liked the hardware/software articles describing the Anandtech web server farm. Do you happen to want to upgrade something to Core2/Core Xeon?
CheesePoofs - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
I agree ... and maybe something comparing OpenGL to DX9 (or 10), or somethign to compare gaming on linux to on windows.Kensei - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
What'd I'd like to see is a bit of an amplification on Vinney's comment below:"Vinney is hard at work studying for the bar, giving me a constant reminder that under no circumstances could I ever be a lawyer."
Why, pray tell Anand, would she say this about you? Enquiring minds would like to know.
Kensei
Calin - Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - link
She's not saying - just that Anand is unable to consider himself learning so much from so many sources to be a possible work for him.I know I couldn't be a doctor, after seeing how much my gf need to study (and after seeing all the medicine books in her library, you could stack them from floor to ceiling - and sometimes she needs to borrow a book or another)
ianhyphen - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
I've hated intel since my first K6-2 blew away my pentium box. But, after having read nearly 35 articles and reviews, I'm so excited to get a core 2. Not only does this mean that Intel is offering next-gen proccy power at an affordable price. But, now, AMD has to answer back which means we'll be making another huge jump in 07-08 (I hope, for AMD's sake).Thank you so much! I'm building a new PC before I head back to school and I've had my eyes set on that E6600 for overclocking and no one has tried it. I read every article I could find. Finally, you did it! Plus, it sounds even better than I had hoped! Again, thank you.
I'm fully agreeing with the need for core 2 mobo reviews as being a very, very helpful thing for the future. However, all one can do for the time being is compare the various intel sets, so I don't see a point right now. I've got my fingers crossed for nVidia.
Thank you, again, for the excellent review.
AnandTech & Intel FTW.
munisgtm - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
gr8 article but i wish u do a seperate vesion on e6300 and motherboards tht support themSonicIce - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
im glad you're working the beat again with the new article. i was also wondering what happened to the blog, i thought you didn't care about us. im not sure what i want to say to the big Anand, but have a good weekend!oh, blu-ray and hd-dvd stuff is really cool, i was wondering if u were gunna show some screenies of the quality? and im having a really hard time accepting intel as the new leader. :P it just doesn't seem as leet.
ksherman - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
i'd like to also see more overclocking info on the Core 2's, mainly the lower end SKUs. I know they will be FSB limited because their mulitplier is locked. Also, a Core 2 motherboard roundup would be great too. There have been many AM2 motherboard articles, but nearly nothing on the Core 2's.I really did enjoy the Core 2 article. Twas a master piece :-). I kinda feel sorry for AMD, how the two big things they really had going for them are now, pretty much gone.
For the future, as I am sure you are aware, Apple's WWDC is comming up soon. It would be great to see a review of their new Mac Pros and ESPECIALLY the MacBook. I only say that because most of the reviews I have read of the macBook have left me only with more questions, and I like the reviews that come from yonder site. Also, maybe a little bit of your input on the up-and comming OSX refresh (10.5) would be cool too.
Digital Cameras too. There havent been any reviews from that category in a loooong time. Maybe you have given up on it, thats ok. But if not, it would be nice to get some new reviews too.
I think i have placed down enough of my desires here... good luck, and as always, keep up the good work!
edwards98 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
.. and I'd like to see these:1) A bit more of a price/performance/overclocking analysis of the new processors. The highest-end gets most of the ink at tech sites these days, but I reckon its only a small subset even of the techy crowd here who'll go for the most expensive hardware.
2) An update on the CPU Cooler situation. A lot of people want fast, reliable PCs which also aren't too noisy. Somehow this issue mainly seems to be addressed by the smaller tech sites. I think there's an opening here :)
3) A preview of DirectX 10 and the new graphics cards due out in the next 6 months. Some idea of features, the kind of visual improvements to come and maybe even the kind of performance improvements we might expect from the new cards in the current generation of games, and some idea if the tales of Kilowatt powersupplies are myth or reality!
Oh, and I hope you have a good weekend too :)
SpaceRanger - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
That you're alive!!Great article indeed!
jebo - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Yep glad to know you haven't gotten out of the PC Hardware Website business or anythingI'm looking forward to the price/performance wars ahead, as well as power consumption and overclocking of the "EE" versions of the X2.
Also, we need reviews of Conroe motherboards!
Rike - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
"Also, we need reviews of Conroe motherboards!"Let me second that one.
And I'm glad to see your blog is not dead. :)
P.S. It's also time to update "Anand's Picks."
S3anister - Saturday, July 29, 2006 - link
it also makes me happy to read another of your blogs :)I'm just waiting for some really good reviews of video cards when DX10 GPUs come out =D