The Thunder K7 and dual AMD processors...
While Tyan is not the only manufacturer basing a motherboard on AMD's
760MP chipset, they are the first (which is important in this game).
We've been teased with pictures, leaked benchmarks and specifications
for over a year now. Everyone knows what it is. It has generated more
interest in dual processing than any other single piece of hardware
that has come to market in the two years that this site has been around.
It seems that the whole hardware community is waiting with baited breath
for the slew of reviews that are hitting the 'net right now. Well...
Here you go!
I would like to kick off this review by
letting you all know what you will not be seeing:
You will not see pages and pages of architecture
babble regurgitated from the AMD and
Tyan press kits. If
you want that sort of thing, you can read the first ten pages ofAnand's
or Tom's review.
Unfortunately, you will not be seeing any really
impressive video card related benchmarks. As you will see later, I was
limited to using a 64mb Radeon for this write-up. While the Radeon is
an awesome card in its own right, it simply does not turn in the numbers
that a GeForce3 or Quadro (or better) would have.
While I did have access to a nice digital camera for
a few days, I didn't get any pictures of the machine fully assembled...
So I guess you will not be seeing those either (I really need
to buy a digital camera).
Last but not least, you will not be seeing this
system compared to a dual P4 Xeon system, or a dual 1.2ghz PIII system.
We haven't gotten our hands on any P4 Xeons yet (soon), and well...
1.2ghz PIII's just don't exist, so...
If you were wondering what you are going to see
here, I can promise that I will give you an honest lay-person's look at
what may be the biggest thing to hit dual processing since the introduction
of the PPro so many years ago... The dual AMD platform.
