Socket AM2 CPUs listed, specced, priced up

Cheapest AM2 CPU will cost €65

By Theo Valich: Sunday 21 May 2006, 07:55
SINCE WE'RE NOT running any benchmarks of Socket AM2 CPUs, here's some other info about the chips set to show up this coming Tuesday.

The line-up is currently divided into Semprons, Athlon 64s and the FX series and you can expect a lot of variation on cache sizes in the line-up. Both Sempr0ns and Athlons now come with two cache sizes, but bearing similar clock speeds with a 200+ PR point difference.

The prices are the same in dollars and Euro, even though we all know that AMD CPUs are manufactured in Dresden but the beancounters are located in US and that’s all that matters. This is a common pattern across vendors.

All prices are set for box retail versions that come with heatsink, a manual and a sticker. The SKUs for the processors are as following:

SDAXXXXCNBOX – Sempron XXXX is the PR rating, L2 amount isn’t different in SKU
ADAXXXXCUBOX – Athlon 64 X2 with 1MB of L2 cache, XXXX is the PR rating
ADAXXXXCSBOX – Athlon 64 X2 with 2MB of L2 cache, XXXX is the PR rating
ADAFXXXCSBOX – Athlon 64 FX, two XXs are the model number

Socket AM2 models
Sempr0n 64 - Rated at Max. TDP of 35W, 128KB of L2 cache
2800+: 1.6 GHz clock, $65
3200+: 1.8 GHz clock, $85
3500+: 2.0 GHz clock, $105

Sempr0n 64 - Rated at Max. TDP of 35W, 256KB of L2 cache
3000+: 1.6 GHz clock, $75
3400+: 1.8 GHz clock, $95
3600+: 2.0 GHz clock, $120

Athlon 64 - Rated at Max. TDP of 65W, 512KB of L2 cache
3000+: 1.8 GHz clock, Pacifica Virtualisation Tech, $109
3200+: 2.0 GHz clock, Pacifica Virtualisation Tech, $154
3500+: 2.2 GHz clock, Pacifica Virtualisation Tech, $184
3800+: 2.4 GHz clock, Pacifica Virtualisation Tech, $284

Athlon 64 - Rated at Max. TDP of 65W, 1MB of L2 cache
None – If it appears, expect 3700+, 3900+ or 4000+ rating

Athlon 64 X2 - Rated at Max. TDP of 89W, Dual Core, 1MB of L2 cache
X2 3800+: 2.0 GHz clock, Pacifica, $299
X2 4200+: 2.2 GHz clock, Pacifica, $359
X2 4600+: 2.4 GHz clock, Pacifica, $589
X2 5000+: 2.6 GHz clock, Pacifica, $689
Athlon 64 X2 - Rated at Max. TDP of 89W, Dual Core, 2MB of L2 cache
X2 4000+: 2.0 GHz clock, Pacifica, $319
X2 4400+: 2.2 GHz clock, Pacifica, $459
X2 4800+: 2.4 GHz clock, Pacifica, $639

Athlon 64 FX - Rated at Max. TDP of 89W, Dual Core, 2MB of L2 cache
FX-62, 2.8 GHz clock, Pacifica tech included for a measly $1219. µ

AM2 Sempron performs worse than s754

Hardware Wibbleabout More tweaking to be done

By Désiré Athow: Friday 26 May 2006, 10:17
HKEPC reviews the AM2 Sempron, the new one and compares the 3000+ both as s754 and AM2 versions. The Sempron 3000+ AM2 is actually a step back. Slower by 200MHz, no cool and quiet. But it has a larger L2 cache and is based on the Manila core with a 62w TDP. The Sempron 3000+ Socket 754 processor is better than the AM2. Why AM2 is doing that is beyond me. Are they turning into Intel themselves by making the P rating a hard-coded one?

CPU3D grills the Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 1GB memory kit. And it is hot, that's the least I can say. You get the traditional memory heatspreaders and that's basically it. Very stable though, especially when overclocking - it went all the way to 764MHz FSB with the Pentium D 805. They are not expensive and are probably a better investment than most cheaper models. benchmarks include PC Mark, Sciencemark2 and Sandra Memory benchmark.

TT-hardware - French content ahead - reviews the Maxtor DiamondMax 10 and the Western Digital Caviar SE which brings SATA2 and NCQ to the Mid range level. TT-Hardware's aim is to test SATA2 and NCQ and see whether the difference is academic or tangible. Other models are included in the review from previous reviews. Conclusion from the reviewer, neither does NCQ or SATA2 bring any notable change. Worse, it can apparently make things much worse. The WD drive is more silent, runs cooler and is slightly bigger with a three year warranty.

In the meantime, Matbe tests the Core Duo against a slew of contenders. Three socket 479 motherboards are presented. Apart from the Asus and the Aopen which normally appear in reviews, there's also one from MSI, which is the 945GT Speedster. Far from being biased, Matbe brings another variable on the table when comparing the Core Duo and the other actors. Price. The Top Core Duo - the T2600 - processor and a motherboard will cost more than Eur 1050, which is way too much for most of us. The Core Duo is a tamed beast when running at normal speed and it is only when it is overclocked that it can really show what it can do.

Legionhardware reviews the OCZ GameXstream 700W power supply unit. It bears the usual characteristics of quality PSUs. Honeycomb panel, 120mm fans and a three year warranty. Efficiency level is very high and features like Overvoltage, Overcurrent, Short Circuit and active PFC are included. Now OCZ is a specialist in memory modules rather than PSUs, but they seem to have done a really good work regardless of their rather recent pedigree. The reviewer tested the PSU with a Pentium D 805 with a 7900GT SLI rig. I wonder whether a Quad SLI will finally make it come to its knees.

Another PSU tested is the Coolermaster Real Power 550w model. It supports all the new features that are en vogue like Honeycomb finish, SLI, Crossfire and Dual core processors support. On top of that it has a fan speed control - with a 3.5-inch front panel display - and a blue fan LED. Note that the 550w is the real power - hence the name - delivered, rather than the peak output. After some torture tests, the only fault DH could find was the lack of protection on most cables. µ