Super Pi And WinRAR
Super PI is a single threaded benchmark that calculates pi to a specific number of digits. It uses the Gauss-Legendre algorithm and is a Windows port of a program used by Yasumasa Kanada in 1995 to compute pi to 232 digits. Super PI is a single threaded benchmark ideal for testing pure, single threaded x86 floating point performance and while most of the computing market has shifted towards multithreaded applications and more modern instruction sets, Super PI still remains quite indicative of CPU capability in specific applications such as computer gaming. Available Here.
As you say it’s something that an everyday user doesn’t need and those who do buy them, will all be about willy waving. The price of the chip coupled with the archaic X79 chipset renders it redundant anyway.
I agree to an extent, the lack of SATA III and USB 3.0 isn’t ideal. But then PCIe goes through the CPU so thats up to date. Board vendors can add marvell/asmedia SATA III/USB 3.0 implementations so its not really redundant.
It is useable but for the price you’re expected to pay, it really requires a new chipset. Marvell & Asmedia chips are just stopgaps at best.
For the price you’re expected to pay it should come with a Butler who sets the new CPU up for you and provides you with free ice cold beer.
That being said, It could be a cheaper, more cost effective alternative to Intel’s Xeon’s.
Why use a $200 AMD cpu against a $1000 intel one? why not use a 9590? or even a 12 core socket G34 AMD cpu for similar price?
The FX-8350 at 4.8GHz is better than an FX-9590. Why? Because the FX-9590 is 4.7GHz base clock and 5GHz turbo. It only goes to 5GHz turbo on one module, maybe you’ll get two if you’re lucky. Most of the time when all four modules are used the clock speed is 4.7GHz. As far as the socket G34 goes they are industrial/business grade CPUs. Not meant for consumers, it would be a pointless venture. Plus we’ve already established that anything more than four cores is barely utilised except in productivity. So 12 cores at 2.3GHz (on the top of the line Opteron 12 core model) will probably fare worse than 8 cores at 4.8GHz IMO.