AMD to Manufacture All Athon XP CPUs Using B0 Thoroughbred Revision

by Anton Shilov
12/06/2002 | 01:20 PM

As you may remember from our Athlon XP 2600 Review, there are two versions of AMD Athlon XP processors manufactured using 0.13 micron technology: revision A0 and B0. The latter can work at higher core-clock speeds as well as FSB frequencies, while the former is not so great in terms of speed. Originally AMD wanted all its microprocessors with 2000+ and higher performance ratings to be based on the B0 stepping, while the lower-speed CPUs would have gone from the market. But after all the company revised its strategy and decided that they still need to sell the CPUs below 2000+ mark. In order to improve manufacturability and increase the speed bin distribution, AMD decided to start manufacturing Athlon XP 1800+ and 1700+ CPUs using B0 stepping cores.

The first samples of the newcomers appeared yesterday and the production shipment date is currently set at 11th of December. Here is the table that will help you to distinguish between the Athlon XP 1700+ and 1800+ with older core and with newer one. <%BANNER[article]%>

AMD also issued the official list of changes:

1. CPU ID change from 680 to 681;
2. Die size increase from 80sq. mm to 84sq.mm;
3. Added new clock multipliers 23.0X and 24.0X;
4. Removed clock multiplier 22.5X;
5. Implemented speed path improvements;
6. Processor core voltage changed from 1.50V to 1.60V (seems to be an effort to improve the yield);
7. Added FSB_Sense pins to the processor package;

Even though the above date projections are based on the most current product development status information at the time this ACN was issued, they may change due to unforeseen circumstances. For the latest schedule and any other information, please contact your local AMD sales office or your local distributor. Please consult your motherboard vendor for latest BIOS version and to verify inclusion of new CPU ID.