The Worst CPU AMD ever made... - Quad FX Upgrade Path Retrospective
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Check out MSI’s epic Summer Sale today using the link below! msi.page AMD and Intel have been competing for years and they've both had their ups and downs. Back in 2006, AMD may as well have been at the bottom of the ocean with how down they were when Quad FX launched. How bad is it now? Discuss on the forum: linustechtips.com Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group. ► GET MERCH: lttstore.com ► LTX 2023 TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW: lmg.gg ► GET EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ON FLOATPLANE: lmg.gg ► SPONSORS, AFFILIATES, AND PARTNERS: lmg.gg ► EQUIPMENT WE USE TO FILM LTT: lmg.gg ► OUR WAN PODCAST GEAR: lmg.gg FOLLOW US --------------------------------------------------- Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: @LinusTech Instagram: @linustech TikTok: @linustech Twitch: twitch.tv MUSIC CREDIT --------------------------------------------------- Intro: Laszlo - Supernova Video Link: youtube.com iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com Artist Link: soundcloud.com Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High Video Link: youtube.com Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi Artist Link: youtube.com Intro animation by MBarek Abdelwassaa @mbarek_abdel Monitor And Keyboard by vadimmihalkevich / CC BY 4.0 geni.us Mechanical RGB Keyboard by BigBrotherECE / CC BY 4.0 geni.us Mouse Gamer free Model By Oscar Creativo / CC BY 4.0 geni.us CHAPTERS --------------------------------------------------- 0:00 Intro 1:24 AMD in 2006 2:55 "Quad Core" 4:05 4X4 4:55 Quad FX Upgrade Path 8:45 Fire it up 9:50 YouTube Playback 10:45 Gaming 12:50 TF2 13:45 Mars GTX 760 15:45 RTX 3060 16:22 Conclusion 18:34 Outro
The video begins by contrasting AMD's Quad FX platform with Intel's high performance systems from the same era, framing Quad FX as an atypical and mythologized misstep. The host emphasizes how the platform promised quadruple core performance and quad GPU capabilities, but in practice faced serious issues with heat, price, and reliability. Early on, the discussion centers on the 2006 launch window when AMD attempted a radical multi-CPU, multi-GPU solution that required a unique motherboard and paired CPUs. The host then pivots to the upgrade path that could have salvaged the platform: the expectation that AMD would release true quad-core CPUs compatible with the LGA1207 socket, enabling a real, scalable upgrade rather than a dead-end configuration. This analysis sets the tone for a detailed teardown and hands-on testing that reveals just how compromised the original Quad FX design was in both performance and value. The narrative transitions from theory to application as the team attempts to assemble a working upgrade with old and modern hardware, confronting compatibility quirks, BIOS hurdles, and the impracticalities of the platform in a modern gaming context. The segment culminates in a clear verdict: Quad FX offered little practical upgrade value, despite the ambitious, if misguided, engineering intent behind the concept.
Topics · technology history · computer hardware · hardware upgrade · retro computing · gaming PCs · consumer electronics
Questions answered
- What was the core weakness of the Quad FX platform according to the video?
- The platform suffered from poor performance, high power consumption, and an impractical upgrade path that offered little real-world value despite its ambitious multi-CPU and multi-GPU concept.
- Why did AMD release an upgrade path that failed to deliver real gains?
- The upgrade path was hampered by architectural and compatibility issues, including limited support for quad-core CPUs on the same motherboard, and the reality that later quad-core CPUs did not integrate cleanly with the original platform.
- What was the role of the Asus Mars GTX 760 in the evaluation?
- The Mars GTX 760 was paired with Quad FX to test the four-GPU SLI concept, highlighting the inefficiency and questionable value of the platform when used with mid-range GPUs.
- Did the team manage to get Windows 7 or Windows 10 to run smoothly on the setup?
- Windows 7 sometimes worked with the platform, but Windows 10 often faced instability, underscoring overall compatibility fragility of the era’s hardware stack.