[Bubbaloo]

I don't know about Solidworks, but I had to do some install modifications to get AutoCAD Architecture 2008 to install.
But it works great now.
So far Vista has been very stable for me.
Good luck!

[Tea_Bag]

Hey,

Im Looking at getting the AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition Quad Core Its going for a very goood price : £156.00 not bad check out the performance:

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=735&p=3

[Bubbaloo]

Get 2!

[numerobis]

Hey,

Im Looking at getting the AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition Quad Core Its going for a very goood price : £156.00 not bad check out the performance:

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=735&p=3

Yes, the cinebench looks interesting ( http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=735&p=1 )
but...
here are different results:
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/AMD ... on/?page=6
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/amd-pheno ... 31-19.html



and, it's
- 2,5GHz to 2,4 GHz
- 65nm to 45nm
- TDP is 125W to 95W (G0) !!!
- the price is 175€ to 148€
and when it comes to overclocking you will hardly reach 3GHz (20% oc)with the Phenom... at this number you can start testing with a q6600 - normally 3,2-3,6GHz (25%-50% oc) should be possible...
...and starting at 125W TDP i don't want to know what it's eating at 3GHz

[Tea_Bag]

I understand that the intel Q6600 Can be overclocked by 25%-50% but as a hobbyists the AMD is more cost effective due to me not needing to change my motherboard. if I went down the intel route more costs are involved as I would need to replace my motherboard.

The intel Quads are impressive tho! Thanks for those links very interesting!

Phenom overclocked

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/amd ... efault.asp

[Bubbaloo]

AMD's Direct Connect architecture eliminates some bottlenecks that Intel and their FSB have to deal with. An AMD 2.4 Ghz will perform very fast I'd be willing to bet.
Basically, with AMD, each core can communicate directly with other cores, making it a true quad core, while Intel's have to go through the FSB to communicate.

That's what I've read anyway.

At home I've got an old AMD dual core 2.2 Ghz that will blow away any of the pentiums of it's era (dual core 2.8-3.4).

[Tea_Bag]

The Cavalry Has Arrived