Live from Taiwan: Cebit 2006 Preview - Part 2

Final Words

There is no doubt that IDF has stolen a lot of the Cebit thunder with the first Conroe benchmarks. The fact that the first Conroe performance numbers were so very impressive made the IDF coverage even more gripping. However, the launch of the new nVidia 7900GTX/GT and 7600 series at Cebit today will make for an exciting kick-off. It will also shift the focus away from IDF, as it ends in San Francisco, and back to Cebit, as it kicks off in Hanover.

We hope you enjoyed our Cebit preview "Live from Taiwan". Not everything computer is "Made in Taiwan" or "Made in China", but there is no doubt that many of the most significant products are born there. Consider this your insiders overview to sift through the Cebit coverage for additional items that will light the computer landscape in 2006.

It appears the nVidia shrink to 90nm in the 7000 series, which allows higher clock frequencies, is certainly enough to proclaim that the 7900GTX and X1900XTX are at least on the same playing field. With ATI and nVidia so competitive again, you will likely see price competition in this video round that will bring you more performance for your video dollar. Competition is good for buyers.

The contrast between AMD and Intel in all these events is very interesting. AM2 motherboards are everywhere, but the AM2 processor is "Missing-in-Action" in benchmarks. AM2 launches at Computex in early June, but we are still a ways to go until final AM2 silicon.

Intel, on the other hand, is demoing Conroe at IDF, but the chipsets and boards to support the new Intel chip are basically nowhere to be found. Broadwater is due to launch this quarter, and final spins are still in the works.

Time will bring all the parts together later this year and we will finally get to see the results of all these new directions. We've seen round 1 of Conroe vs. AMD at IDF this year, Cebit will put a face on AM2 motherboards, but it is still a while before Conroe versus AM2 will be a real event.