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AMD's Turion 64 on the Desktop

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the building-it-out dept.

Toasty16 writes "SPCR has an overview of using an AMD Turion 64 mobile processor in a desktop system. There's a good bit of info about motherboard compatibility and power consumption as compared to a Pentium M processor. There's also links to articles from the Techreport and LaptopLogic on the same topic. If you've been thinking about building a low power HTPC or file server, mobile processor on desktop is an interesting option."

7 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. ...or use a Via chip by Paul+Bristow · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have used fanless Via C3 chips for several years now. One is running a Linux Fileserver at home, the other a DVB multi-tuner PVR.

    Last I saw they are on the C7 chip. Not so famous as AMD, but for certain tasks, get the job done nicely.

    --
    - Paul
    1. Re:...or use a Via chip by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      No. You're thinking of overlays, which lets the card handle how the video gets put onto the screen and offers things like hardware accelerated stretching and colour conversion. There's no actual video decoding being done by the hardware, the card is just reading pixel data from its video memory and putting it on the screen. It's upto the rest of the system to decode that video into a format that the card can display.

      Just to confuse you even further, some cards do include hardware video decoders, usually for MPEG or H.236 type formats. These decoders are still seperate from the overlay though.

    2. Re:...or use a Via chip by default+luser · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What I don't understand with this Turion story is why AMD are not pushing desktop usage for this processor themselves.

      They already are. Did you even read the review? Turion processors are low-voltage Athlon 64 processors. They run at 1.35v for the ML line at full speed, 1.2v for the MT line at full speed, and 0.9v at 800 MHz idle.

      The "Newcastle" core they compared the Turion to is VERY OLD, 0.13 micron, with an operating voltage of 1.5v. The Turions are based on a second-generation, highly refined 0.09 micron process. So are all of AMD's current desktop processors.

      Modern desktop Socket 939 Athlon 64 single-core processors use the Venice and San Diego cores, which are based on the same process as the Turions, and are VERY LOW POWER. Venice chips run at 1.35v, the same as the Turion ML, and with Cool 'n Quiet enabled, they idle at 1GHz with 1.1v, for a power usage of ~ 4w. So, expect equivilantly-clocked Athlon 64s to use the same power as Turion MLs.

      I thought this review was a stupid waste of time, and here is why:

      1. They originally stated they did the review because Socket 754 motherboards could be found cheap, and thus you could make a cheap, powerful and low-power box. But the MSI RS482M-IL they settled on sells for more in the $70-80 range. Socket 939 boards can be had for that.

      2. The Turion ML is no lower-power than its desktop counterparts (except in idle, but the difference is so small it only matters to a notebook), but it has a price premium of about $80 for the same performance level. For example (from Pricewatch), the Socket 939 3200+ sells for around $140, and the Turion ML-40 (its performance equivilant) sells for around $230. The MT-40 has an even higher premium, costing an additional $40 over the ML-40.

      Oh, and a few quick answers to your questions:

      They can't just sell everyone Turion MTs. Those cores are cherry-picked for low-voltage operation, and they are in much shorter supply than the ML / desktop voltage chips.

      And the single memory channel on the Turion was the obvious choice. Dual memory channels would require every Turion notebook to ship with two sticks of DDR1. As I have mentioned earlier, the DDR2 used on the Pentium M platform is a lot lower power than DDR1. Thus, with a single channel, AMD has encouraged manufacturers to use only a single stick. Later this year, when AMD moves to DDR2, expect to see dual-channel memory on the Turions.

      --

      Man is the animal that laughs.
      And occasionally whores for Karma.

  2. Enjoying it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have been using a turion based PC for a little while. For what I do (no gaming) it has been brilliant. Its good to see that there are other people writing articles about using Mobile chips on their desktop.

  3. Energy Savings - why not turn it off? by PoconoPCDoctor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Speaking just to the power-savings benefit of using a mobile CPU in a home system, unless you are running a home server, the best way to conserve power in any PC would be to turn it off.

    This link notes one person's cost of leaving systems powered up, a little more than $23.00 USD per month.

    So boot it up each morning, make the coffee and toast, and by the time you sit back down in front of Unbuntu, Mandriva, BSD, SUSE or that friendly chair-throwing group from Redmond, you can feel better about not burning up more oil to play solitaire (YOU'RE FIRED).

    --
    "Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair" - George Washington
  4. Re:neato-keen by j-cloth · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I had no idead they would have make the Turions compatible with older 754 MBs. Back to the laptop world here, I have a Compaq (R3000z) with what is basically a desktop Athlon 64 chip (Clawhammer 3200+). Any theories on possible gains from swapping in a Turion?

    The possibility of cutting CPU power by 75% while gaining SSE3 support, VMware 64bit guest compatibility and possibly some performance seems like a good reason to pull out the screwdriver.

    Thoughts?

  5. Details? by bradleyland · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Any chance of getting some part numbers or manufacturers for that system?

    The need for cooler running desktops has surpassed the need for faster desktops in the case of most of my customers. They like to browse the internet, write email, and play bridge online, but rarely render anything in 3D, encode much media, or play any games. They'd rather stuff the computer in a cabinet and not have to stare at it.

    In the latter part of last year, we replaced three Dells that cooked themselves inside a cabinet, and have at least three more where the customer complains of frequent crashes. We're almost certain that heat is the issue. All Dell will do is send us new case fans.

    We've tried cutting vent holes in the desks too. Short of an active fan based ventilation system, it appears that a fast system is not suited for life inside an enclosed cabinet. Enter the need for something not quite as fast, but cooler and quieter.