Less than a week after the announcement, AMD Athlon XP processors based on Barton core appeared for sale in Japan, as this Japanese web-site reports. Unfortunately, it is not the highest-performing AMD processor with 3000+ model number, but a bit slower Athlon XP 2800+ CPU.

The Athlon XP 2800+ chip with Barton core is manufactured using 0.13 micron copper technology in Fab30. The CPU runs at 2083MHz, utilises 333MHz EV-6 FSB and is equipped with 512KB of L2 cache. Read more about performance and peculiarities of the new Athlon XP processors in our article here.

Because very few stores now sell the novelty, the Athlon XP 2800+ in retail package is priced at nearly $480, what seems to bee too high even for Japan, as Intel’s Pentium 4 2.80GHz now costs $365-$450 in the USA. Another thing I do not quite understand in regards the CPU is that the cooler AMD sells with the 2800+ processor does not resemble the one we were supplied for our samples for the review (compare our cooler and retail cooler). Our one seems to be more efficient due to thinner rubs and their higher number, isn’t it?

Well, expect AMD Athlon XP 3000+ processors to appear in retail in a week or so, I believe, by then retailers will lower the prices on the current 2800+ chips, as $480 seems to be too high price for them.