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AMD Introduces the Athlon XP 2200+
NevDull writes "AMD introduces the Thoroughbred core in the Athlon XP 2200+. Tom's Hardware Guide has a review of the new CPU based on the 0.13 micron core, and subsequently declares the current CPU war to have been won by Intel." Update: 06/10 12:48 GMT by T : DavoHH writes "To add to the list of reviews and benchmarks around the net for the new Athlon XP 2200+,
HotHardware.com has one and also
and also Anand's
and AMDMB." Update: 06/10 13:45 GMT by T : One more: Johan contributes a link to an Ace's Hardware review which tries to answer the question "Does the 0.13 Athlon XP run well an on older motherboard, and does it provide good value as an upgrade?"
Another report can be found at tech-report.
Personally, I'll just wait for the price cuts to take effect, then buy an XP.
review at Ace's hardware
Much info about upgrading older boards to the new AMD.
At least here the reviewer make sure that both CPU work with the same memory.
Tom's gives the P4 PC1066, while 95% of the P4 systems are sold with DDR.
Review at Anandtech
http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1635
Their conclusion in short:
Thoroughbred is more of an evolution to the Palomino core than a revolution. In other words, nothing new except minor speed increases to the end user. No special architecture changes, except decreased transistor amounts to allow higher clock frequencies and perhaps a bit lower prices as well.
After attempting to overclock their Thoroughbred @ 1.8 GHz, they observed there was almost no overclocking potential at all, leading to some doubts to whether AMD will keep up with Intel that well until their Hammer processors is ready.
So the Thoroughbred core seem to extend the Athlon XP lifetime with perhaps a few more 66 MHz jumps from the current 1.8 GHz, but will probably never get more than a 10-20% performance increase above the Athlon XP "Palomino" 2100+. From Anandtech's analysis, I'd think the best Thoroughbreds will end around a "2600+" performance rating.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Intel P4 2.53Ghz: $535
AMD Athlon XP 2200+: ~$250
Intel price is from Pricewatch, AMD is a guess based on two sightings here and here, and past release prices.
HardOCP got theirs up to 2025MHz (which they say would be a 2500+ part)
Belief is the currency of delusion.
Gee, tell that to the simulation folks I work with! We've got a good half-dozen recent-vintage Linux servers also in use as desktops. At least once a week someone comes by to ask why my machine is running so slow. The answer is that I have a genuine Intel 2GHz processor. The "1.7+" and even "1.6+" AMD machines kick my Intel's butt. These AMDs have clock speeds at least 25% slower than my Intel's, but their throughput is 20-40% better. I never really believed in "clock equivalence" bullshit before, but I do now!
Starting with the Athlon XP series, AMD's strategy to deal with extreme heat conditions is to simply have the information available but leave it up to the motherboard and ultimately the user to decide what action, if any, to take.
The P4's thermal diode will automatically trigger some throttling if excess temperatures are generated. The Athlon XP's thermal diode will simply alert the motherboard as to what is going on so that some action will be taken. Ultimately, the Athlon XP can still have the same kind of protections as the P4 but the processing power and logic necessary is offloaded to the motherboard.
Perhaps this is actually a cost-cutting measure and it is part of the reason why AMD chips on the whole seem to cost less than intel. Either way, if you want to build a good desktop around one of these chips, you will pay for good thermal protection in the CPU if you get intel or in the motherboard if you buy AMD.