Why not Quad-Core

Intel has been doing very well with their Core�2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme platforms, and we've been covering that here all along. And AMD recently launched their quad-core "Phenom" platform as well. So why not do a full quad-core comparison? Two reasons really.

First of all, AMD typically has production issues when introducing a new product, and thus usually have very few samples to go around. The Phenom was no different - they weren't even able to launch the processor running at speeds they'd originally intended. So they only work with a handful of sites on reviews (and many of those didn't even get samples of the Phenom, but were flown in to see benchmarks being done by AMD themselves).

About�5 years ago, back in the AthlonXP days, we sort of gave AMD a hard time for launching products that were not available in stores for quite a while after reviews came out. This was known as a 'paper launch'. In an attempt to be funny, we took liberties with their logo design�and their�"me" marketing slogan. Although the image was well received by our readers (and other webmasters), AMD wasn't too pleased with it. We apologized, and noted that it was indeed against their terms of service to modify their logos. Because of their stock issues, we basically got moved down to the bottom of the list of websites they wanted to work with. Ever since then, we've had to buy our AMD processors to review. This usually means we're quite a few days behind on most processor launches, because it still takes a while for new AMD products to show up on store shelves. It really sucked to have to buy a 4600+ for around $300 for the Core 2 Duo review,�only to see�its price was essentially cut in half the very next week. We weren't going to be late for Intel's most important CPU launch in years though.

So to answer the question; we haven't bought a Phenom yet, so we can't review it until we do. We'll have one soon enough though, possibly once AMD is able to get a faster one out there.

The second reason is a price issue. Sure, quad core systems provide a huge speed boost in many instances. But for many people, $250-300� is still too much to ask for a CPU. In terms of gaming, dual core is sufficient, and for the same price you are able to get a dual core CPU with a higher clock speed.