AMD Sempron: A Fresh Take on Budget Computing
by Derek Wilson on July 28, 2004 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Two Flavors are Better than One: Socket 754
Next in line: the K8 version of Sempron. In these processors, we have a little more with which to differentiate the new processors from the current generation.
Socket 754 Sempron 3100+
Not that we can see much with the heat spreader on there, but this processor is more in the tradition of budget processors, as it is based on current Athlon 64 technology with half the cache. Specifically, the Sempron 3100+ has the same size L2 cache as the Tbred Sempron: 256KB. So, AMD started out with a 1MB L2 cache derived from the Opteron, moved to a 512KB cache, and has finally dropped down to 256KB for its budget line of K8 processors.
Socket 754 Sempron 3100+
The other very interesting and pertinent bit of information is that the K8 Sempron does not support x86-64 extensions.
While this may seem like a downside at first, this will actually help out AMD. The K8 Sempron, if cache size doesn't hurt performance too much, will give AMD the ability to offer its current generation of performance to consumers at a lower price point. The performance difference between K7 and K8 architectures on a clock for clock basis is not insignificant, and bringing this to consumers at a more attractive price point is definitely not a bad thing.
Though we won't be able to test it here (we only just received samples from AMD), we will absolutely be looking into overclocking of this part. With x86-64 and half the cache disabled, we may be able to push this part pretty hard. But we'll have to save that for a future update.
Of course, again, the clock for clock comparison part is the Athlon 64 2800+ (running at 1.8GHz). With twice the cache, this part will not be outperformed by the higher rated Sempron part. Again, we feel that this just adds to the confusion in the marketplace. We have to give AMD some credit for successfully pulling off the performance rating system with their mainstream processors, and we were happy that during the Duron's run, they stuck with clocks speeds. Even though Intel's system will be tough to get a hold of for a little while, it's a much more elegant solution to the problem of selling chips based on clock speed than a performance rating meant to reflect clock speed of a theoretical processor.
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Lonyo - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
No edit feature on comments?Also, you can get an 865 for $56 at Newegg (new, ASRock "P4I65GV" i865GV Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL)
So that means that the gap between systems is really only going to be $17 between a Sempron 2800+ system and a Celeron 335 system.
Lonyo - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
Another point, the Sempron prices you quote are in 1000 unit quantities, so on the penultimate page, there is no point if comparing the cost of a system, unless you remember that the Sempron will be $10~$15 more expensive than the price you quote.Celeron 335 is $117 in 1000 unit quantities (on launch) and $127 at Newegg.
The Sempron will probably also be $10 more than the 1000 unit price.
Lonyo - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
Pages 9 and 10 both make reference to the Celeron 225.I think this may be a typo for 335, as there is no 225 in the review ;)
Calin - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
I was thinking - what is the electrical power (in relation with the other Athlons)? I am somewhat interested in a small and silent computer (socketA based) , and I would like to know which of those processons would be the happiest in crammed conditionsCalin
clarkey01 - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
DerekWilson, yeah any chance you could have an 2.4Ghz Sempron going against a celeron @ The same speed.sandorski - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
I might get one when they come out for Socket 939, just because of cost issues. The SocketA versions certainly sucks when compared to the 754 version and with the limited future for Socket 754 there's nothing tempting for me.Spacecomber - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
I assume that the overclocking write-up will include the new Celerons, since I think that was skimmed over in the article covering their launch.When discussing the value of the new Celerons (assuming the this will be part of the overclocking write-up), backward compatability with older chipset motherboards would be helpful, too (e.g., 845E).
I mentioned this in my comments to the Celeron write-up; so, my apologies for being repetitive.
Stlr23 - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
Sempron huh?.....Nice.LeeBear - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
One 'budget' chip you didn't include in the roundup is the 2.4A Pentium 4 (Prescott, FSB533, 1MB Cache). It's cheaper then the Celeron 335 and with overclocking it may provide some interesting results.-LeeBear
DerekWilson - Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - link
We will be working on the overclock article over the next couple days -- is there anything you guys would particularly like to see?