X-bit labs

90nm Processors from AMD: Athlon 64 3500+, 3200+ and 3000+ (page 12)

Category: CPU

by Ilya Gavrichenkov

[ 11/25/2004 | 02:25 AM ]

Conclusion

The new Winchester core used for the new Athlon 64 processors should be considered a success. AMD hasn’t faced any serious problems when shifting to finer 90nm production technology. The new Athlon 64 processors based on Winchester core boast pretty good frequency potential and extremely low heat dissipation and power consumption. Moreover, by shifting to the new core AMD manages to reduce the production cost of its 64-bit CPUs. This way we are about to see more and more CPUs on Winchester core in the market, and these solutions are most likely to turn into a better choice for the end users from the consumer point of view.

At the same time, you should keep in mind that the launching of the new Winchester core from AMD didn’t improve the performance of the Athlon 64 processor family that much, and didn’t enrich their functionality as well. Summing up the results of our today’s test session, we would like to offer you the following diagram.

The performance advantages ensured by the new 90nm Winchester core compared with the predecessor, 130nm NewCastle core, are minimal and sometimes the CPUs based on the new core are even slower than the predecessors. Since the K8 core design remained the same despite the use of finer 90nm production technology, the major trump of the new Winchester based CPUs is not their performance but their low heat dissipation.

At the same time, the reduction of the die size resulting form the use of finer production process allowed AMD to reduce the CPU production costs and release Athlon 64 3000+ and 3200+ for Socket 939 platform. This way, the mass production of Winchester based processors should automatically increase the popularity of the entire Socket 939 platform.

Unfortunately, the frequency potential of the new processor core doesn’t allow basing the top Athlon 64 models on it. However, AMD is planning to start using strained silicon technology for its CPUs manufacturing, which should make it simpler for the company engineers to increase the clock frequency potential of the Athlon 64 family. So far, the new 90nm core will be used only for the slower CPU models, which can freely overclock up to 2.6GHz. Also, AMD engineers are now working on the new Winchester core stepping with the SSE3 instructions support. So, the upcoming Athlon 64 processors should not only become faster, but also more functional.

In conclusion to our today’s article we would like to offer you a diagram with the overall performance coefficients for the CPUs tested. Let it be your helpful guide in the contemporary CPU market, if you are considering a platform upgrade: