by Anton Shilov
03/20/2006 | 11:56 PM
Advanced Micro Devices has quietly published specifications for its yet unannounced microprocessor called AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+. The chip has not been released and is even not listed in the roadmaps, so, the processor may actually be available only for some select customers of AMD.
<%BANNER[article]%>Document titled “AMD Athlon 64 Processor Power and Thermal Data Sheet” lists AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ processor for socket 939 and claims that it has 2600MHz core-clock and 2MB of cache (1MB per core) – exactly the same specifications as compared to AMD Athlon 64 FX-60. On the page 81 of the same document the chip is described as 2600MHz processor with 1MB of cache (512KB per core).
Given that AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ is a 2400MHz chip with 2MB cache, it is more likely that the second set of specifications is more correct, noted OverClockers.ru web-site, as AMD processors usually benefit more from higher clock-speeds, rather than from larger caches.
No roadmap of AMD seen by X-bit labs indicated that AMD was going to release its Athlon 64 model 5000+ for 939-pin infrastructure, but AMD is known for launching chips specifically for its select clients, for instance, it supplies Sun with the so-called Opteron SE chips that work faster than those shipping to others, also, it also once shipped Athlon XP 3200+ with 2.33GHz clock-speed and 333MHz processor system bus (official specs were 2.20GHz and 400MHz bus) to HP. AMD also had tested its Athlon 64 4200+ chip with partners, but the processor never reached retail.
AMD did not comment on the news-story.