AMD's long-awaited 4x4 platform disappoints

It's been a long time coming but AMD's 4x4 enthusiast platform, officially called QuadFX, has hit the streets. In addition to the quad motherboard, AMD unveiled a few new dual-core processors to fill the 4x4's slots with. Despite what many had hoped, it looks like AMD's initial batch of quad products is underwhelming. Not only do the chips run hotter and draw more power than competing CPUs from Intel, they're also slower. Initial benchmarks show Intel's Kentsfield running circles around AMD's QuadFX on Windows XP. While the performance gap is allegedly smaller in Vista, Intel's chip still has the edge. It's also worth noting that the Kentsfield is a single, quad-core chip while AMD's platform utilizes two dual-core CPUs. Considering that on top of the performance problems, AMD will also likely have trouble meeting demand for the chips, it looks like 2007 may find the company losing ground to Intel for the first time in years.

For more on QuadFX:
- check out Ars Technica's in-depth review

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