[ryanxxxx]

http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news...le.php/3707646
really
tri-core?
come on
quad-core really isnt that expensive anymore
you can pick up an intel quad-core on amzon for $280
and an amd for $275
it says on that page that it will be a quad-core with one core turned off...
this doesnt make any sense to me
imho tri-core sounds pointless

anyone else have an opinion on this?

[tht00]

Originally Posted by ryanxxxx

http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news...le.php/3707646
really
tri-core?
come on
quad-core really isnt that expensive anymore
you can pick up an intel quad-core on amzon for $280
and an amd for $275
it says on that page that it will be a quad-core with one core turned off...
this doesnt make any sense to me
imho tri-core sounds pointless

anyone else have an opinion on this?

Yeah.

I've seen the same thing with the Intel Core Solo/Duo processors (first gen). What's going on here is that in the manufacturing of these chips, some have a defective core. When that happens, you have the option of 1) throwing the chip out completely, or 2) disconnect the core completely and sell it with one less core for a cheaper price.

For new/experimental chips, this is almost expected. As the article said, they plan on disconnecting one and the ramping up the clock speed a bit. This isn't a bad thing, and even still, most processes and applications are still single-threaded, so a single task would be completed faster on a slightly faster single-core than a slightly slower dual-core.

Note -- this was even done with the PS3:
The PlayStation 3 uses the IBM-designed Cell microprocessor as its CPU, utilizing seven of the eight "synergistic processing elements" (often shortened to SPE). The eighth SPE is disabled to improve chip yields i.e. chips do not have to be discarded if one of the SPEs is defective.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3

[Giga Hertz]

Quad's over kill. There's plenty of people who'd rather draw less power from a tri-core than quad. I mean, people barely find anything for use with dual-core as it is, the people who do would probably only find one more use for another core.

And the fact that it's that price, is mainly the fact that it's only just released. Since it's AMD, and they're still compensating for the ATI take over, it will probably drop in price with time.

[ryanxxxx]

hmmm
well im not going to be purchasing a new processor for some time anyways
but i think its funny how they sell defective chips but at the same time i guess its smart
thanks