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New AMD Athlon 2600 Processor Released
Ertai writes "Looks like the latest AMD processor is out today, and is taking it right to Intel! Running at 2.13 GHz, the Athlon XP 2600+ is reviewed at Amdmb.com. The benchmarks show that the new Athlon on a 'revision B' Thoroughbred core with the frequency increase is able to beat out the Pentium 4 2.53 GHz processor on almost every test. Not only that, but it is a good overclocker as well! Check it out." AMD's press release on the topic also notes a Athlon 2400 was released as well.
Old school hackers everywhere rejoice.
Objects in the blog are closer then they ap
Anandtech has some alternative review links over here including the more in-depth (and perhaps more objective?) review, at Tom's.
Mr. Pabst has a review too.
Wait about 6 more days until the Pentium IV 2.8Ghz comes out....
2.8Ghz...my first computer didn't have that many MHz
I cannot comment on Xeon versus Pentium 4, but the Athlon XP and MP are decidedly not different chips. Athlon XP processors can usually run in SMP without problems, although newer ones may be locked to prevent this. The MP designation simply means that AMD has validated the processor for SMP use.
Games? Video compression/editing? You say a Celeron doesn't affect your daily work, even if it could be nicer for gaming. What about the millions whose daily "work" is gaming?
There are still customers who have reasons to continue upgrading their computers.
Heck, if I had to, I'd upgrade my computer to play NWN on. I don't need to, but I *would* have to if I only had a Celeron 600.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
AMD Saxony Operations Unaffected by Dresden Flooding
DRESDEN, GERMANY -- August 15, 2002 --AMD (NYSE: AMD) said today that its AMD Saxony operations located in Dresden, Germany - including production at the facility's Fab 30 plant - continue to operate normally despite severe flooding across Germany's Saxony region.
"Although much of the larger Dresden area is being affected by unprecedented floods, our production is running according to plan and employee morale remains high," said Hans Deppe, vice president and general manager of AMD Saxony. "Because of the preventive controls built-in to our facility and the exemplary dedication of our workforce, we expect to continue to operate normally despite the conditions."
AMD Saxony has its own on-site power plant, and remains accessible via the Dresden airport and federal highways. AMD Saxony's operations, including Fab 30, are located high up on the rim of the river valley and have not been directly affected by the flooding in other parts of Dresden and surrounding areas. The company does not expect that operations will be impacted even if the local flood situation worsens.
Myth/rumor: The Athlon XP is a furnace of unimaginable heat! I'm getting a Pentium IV! Even though they are slower and more expensive, at least they won't dim the lights then melt them!
The fastest Athlon XP chips dissipate less than 5% more heat than the fastest Pentium IV chips. They can, however, handle more heat before cooking.
Myth/rumor: Tom's Hardware guide is "more objectvice" or even "Tom's Hardware guide is reliable"
I can't believe I read this, even in a Slashdot comment.
Tom's Hardware Guide is infamous among forums such as those at StorageReview.com and among people that actually know what they are talking about for being little more than a hardware review tabloid. Read the reviews! They come to illogical conclusions and sensationalize most of their reviews.
Read the Athlon review in question:
This is AMD's admission that the previous performance scale was set too high, especially when it came to the higher clock speeds.
Umm... Could it be that because the CPU is advancing where the other components such as memory and FSB are not, that it is possible that AMD added another 66MHz to make sure the rating system was still accurate? It isn't like system performance scales linearly with CPU speed when everything else sits still. Whoever thinks that Tom's Hardware is a good place to get hardware reviews doesn't have a clue about hardware!
Read Tom's glorious review of the KT266a vs the Nforce where despite there being less than a 5% difference between the chipsets and despite the Nforce outperforming every one of the many KT266a that outnumber it greatly in some tests, their "conclusion" was Conclusion: KT266A Trounces nForce 420D - Soltek is Front-runner
Tom's has had some good reviews, and most of the reviews BY TOM HIMSELF are pretty good, but most of the reviews are from his editors, and the proof is in the reviews--they are making Tom's Hardware more of a tabloid than a legit hardware review site, riding on the reputation that Tom made for the site years ago. I know, I was once an avid Tom's reader and am disgusted how the once clear and thoughtful reviews have turned into manic drivel.
If you want reviews that are actually well thought out, intelligent, and have sane conclusions based on mere facts, try Ace's Hardware, Ars Technica, and Anandtech.
Ace's Hardware reviews are clearly the best and most researched, but they are few and far between. Want an excellent review of current and future memory technologies written with the help of actual engineers? Read Ace's Hardware.
Ars rarely has hardware reviews, but when they do the reviews are good.
Anandtech is a good all-around major review site that as far as I can tell has never been biased, but is a little bit too PC for me. (that's Politically Correct, not the other one)
Is Tom's biased? Read the reviews! They aren't biased in a classic sense as far as I can tell, that is, they don't "always favor Intel" or "Always favor AMD"; rather they are often biased against one or the other. They will post stories that are clearly opinionated bullshit from ignorant tech writers that tend to have a bias against one or ther other. This is a mystery to me as they surely piss off both AMD and Intel all the time, and don't make any friends in the process. Overall, I wouldn't say that bias is a big problem at Tom's Hardware as much as stupid technical writers that don't know what they are talking about is a problem.
Want more examples? Point me to a review at Tom's and I'll tell you what's wrong with it (if there is anything wrong with that particular one)
At Tom's--read the reviews by Tom, but everyone else is not trustworthy.
Myth/rumor:
When you hold a seashell up to your ear, you can hear the sea.
Fact: You can hear the same sound reflections by holding a drinking cup up to your ear. It has nothing to do with the ocean. The question is, if you hold a Unix shell up to your ear, can you hear the C?
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
AMD processor temps have long been thrown around as proof that Intel processors are a "safer" buy. What one fails to realize, however, is that the P4 can and DOES generate MORE heat than an Athlon XP!
Go to Intel's whitepaper area and note the max heat dissipation in watts, then go get the same info on the Athlon. You'll find that Intel's flagship will dissipate ~70W-75W, and AMD's flagship will run about ~68W-70W.
The crucial difference between the two is Intel's thermal management techniques. Both AMD and Intel processors can make use of a HALT instruction provided by the chipset. This basically stops the CPU when nothing is going on, allowing it to dramatically cool down. The problem is, AMD chipsets (VIA, SiS, even AMD's own 760 series) don't properly implement the HALT instruction, whereas Intel REQUIRES it of their chipsets and board makers.
The results of this are pretty obvious. Intel chips cool down quicker and generally run cooler UNDER PARTIAL LOAD. But when both chips are stressed to the maximum, the P4 WILL get hotter than an Athlon.
In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky