.09 Athlon 64: Value, Speed and Overclocking
by Wesley Fink on October 14, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
In the last several weeks, AMD has quietly introduced several Athlon 64 processors in the new 90nm die-shrink. The new Socket 939 3000+, 3200+, and 3500+ are based on the new Winchester core. They are also the first Athlon 64 processors to become available at speeds below 3500+ in Socket 939. This is very important, since the biggest news is the fact that the price of entry for a Socket 939 processor is now less than $200. Of course, a successful die-shrink and lower costs are interrelated, and in this case, the model seems to be working as we would expect.
Nothing has really changed on the outside, but if you can find a 3000+ or 3200+ in Socket 939, you can be confident that it is the new 90nm version. Since 3500+ is produced in both 90nm and 130nm versions, you will need to ask if it is a 90nm part. Most resellers that have the new 90nm Athlon 64 have been prominently advertising them.
The latest version 1.24 of CPU-Z can be downloaded at www.cpuid.com. Version 1.24 correctly identifies the die-shrink (.09), the core (Winchester), and the Revision (DH8-D0). Earlier versions of CPU-Z don't recognize the new processors, so make certain that you are using Version 1.24 or later.
A late 3800+ is identified, for comparison, as a NewCastle core, .13 process, and Revision DH7-CG.
There has been a lot of speculation about how important this die-shrink is to AMD. Most of this has revolved around the higher yield and lower cost of production for the smaller chip. Since Intel has already moved to .09, analysts believed AMD needed the yields and lower cost of the .09 shrink to effectively compete with Intel on a cost basis.
There are also potential advantages to the end-user from the die-shrink. These include lower power consumption, cooler processor operation, and greater headroom for higher overclocking. It is these advantages that will interest most of you. We will take a closer look in this review at whether these advantages are realized.
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ViRGE - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
I agree with #3, some more numbers would be nice, preferably at least one Northwood, a Prescott, and a S754 3400+(2.4ghz).IceWindius - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Wow, I wonder what types of memory will work best with the Athlons in the .90 die size? I'd love to be able to get a 3000+ at 2.6 and have extra money in my pocket for other things! Sucks that nForce 4 won't have AGP for my 6800GT so I'll just get a Asus A8V and stay with AGP for one more generation.Go AMD go, I can't wait to get rid of my intel setup and go back to my one and only AMD!
Myrandex - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Sweet article and good results. 90nm is predicted in my near future.Bugler - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Thank you for the write of AnandTech. We have been waiting for some guidance and this is much appreciated. I will probably buy the rest of my AMD build (motherboard and CPU) next weeks. The rest of the parts have arrived. Was just waiting on an assessment of the 90nm chips.ariafrost - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
And I thought the days of nearly 50% overclocks were long gone (I had a Celeron 300A @ 450MHz waaayy back)...My next proc will be a 939 90nm part, and mobo will be Nforce 4 :)
ModFX - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Nice finally be able to afford a socket 939 just got to wait to some NForce 4 boards come out and have revision 2 so they have 1GHz HT.Theres a couple of other typos such as saying "but they confirmed that the AMD 130nm process appears to run at least as cool as current 130nm processors."
I believe it should have said on the first 130nm (90nm).
xsilver - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
I'm having problems finding benchies that compare these new cpus with my current rig.... how much of a performance gap are we talking about over a 3.0 northwood? 50%?Decoder - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Thanks for this super article. My next upgrade will be a AMD64 3000+ on a NForce 4 board! Kudos to AMD.Degrador - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
These look like great chips - I'd say my next processor will be a 90nm 3000+.Btw, you've got the table a little screwy for overclocking - the processor speeds are labelled the wrong way around, and for the 3000+ overclock it should be 2592 (assuming 288x9).