.09 Athlon 64: Value, Speed and Overclocking
by Wesley Fink on October 14, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Performance Test: Configuration
To provide you with the best picture of the performance of the new Athlon64 90nm processors, we decided to compare it to other processors using a cross-section of our standard Motherboard tests. The same Socket 939 motherboard, the MSI K8N Neo2, was used to benchmark the 90nm Athlon 64 3000+, the 90nm Athlon 64 3500+, and the 130nm Athlon 64 3500+. We also ran benchmarks of the 130nm processor at Socket 939 3000+ speeds, but these results are theoretical. There is no production 130nm Socket 939 3000+, so these results were just to compare the impact of the die-shrink and Winchester core on performance.| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD .09 Athlon 64 3500+ AMD .13 Athlon 64 3500+ AMD .09 Athlon 64 3000+ AMD .13 Athlon 64 3000+ (downclocked .13 939 CPU) AMD FX53 A64 (.13-2.4GHz-1MB Cache) |
| RAM: | 2 x 512Mb OCZ 3200 Platinum Rev. 2 |
| Memory Timings: | 2-2-2-10 1T |
| Memory Voltage: | 2.6V |
| Hard Drive(s): | Seagate 120GB PATA (IDE) 7200RPM 8MB Cache |
| PCI/AGP Speed: | Fixed at 33/66 |
| Bus Master Drivers: | nVidia nForce Platform Driver 4.24 (5-10-2004) |
| Video Card(s): | nVidia 6800 Ultra 256MB, 256MB aperture, 1024x768x32 |
| Video Drivers: | nVidia Forceware 61.77 |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520W |
We have found the fastest performance on AMD Athlon 64 chipsets (nForce3, VIA K8T800 PRO) to be achieved at Cycle Time or tRAS of 10. Athlon 64 platform benchmarks were therefore run with the tRAS timing of 10 for all A64 benchmarks.
To illustrate better the comparative performance of the 130nm and 90nm processors, we have displayed results for both in the Performance Comparison charts. Benchmarks were also repeated at the highest overclock that we could achieve on the 90nm processors. For better comparison, results are also included for the fastest processors currently available from AMD (FX53) and Intel (560 - 3.6GHz).
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ViRGE - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
I agree with #3, some more numbers would be nice, preferably at least one Northwood, a Prescott, and a S754 3400+(2.4ghz).IceWindius - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Wow, I wonder what types of memory will work best with the Athlons in the .90 die size? I'd love to be able to get a 3000+ at 2.6 and have extra money in my pocket for other things! Sucks that nForce 4 won't have AGP for my 6800GT so I'll just get a Asus A8V and stay with AGP for one more generation.Go AMD go, I can't wait to get rid of my intel setup and go back to my one and only AMD!
Myrandex - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Sweet article and good results. 90nm is predicted in my near future.Bugler - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Thank you for the write of AnandTech. We have been waiting for some guidance and this is much appreciated. I will probably buy the rest of my AMD build (motherboard and CPU) next weeks. The rest of the parts have arrived. Was just waiting on an assessment of the 90nm chips.ariafrost - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
And I thought the days of nearly 50% overclocks were long gone (I had a Celeron 300A @ 450MHz waaayy back)...My next proc will be a 939 90nm part, and mobo will be Nforce 4 :)
ModFX - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Nice finally be able to afford a socket 939 just got to wait to some NForce 4 boards come out and have revision 2 so they have 1GHz HT.Theres a couple of other typos such as saying "but they confirmed that the AMD 130nm process appears to run at least as cool as current 130nm processors."
I believe it should have said on the first 130nm (90nm).
xsilver - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
I'm having problems finding benchies that compare these new cpus with my current rig.... how much of a performance gap are we talking about over a 3.0 northwood? 50%?Decoder - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Thanks for this super article. My next upgrade will be a AMD64 3000+ on a NForce 4 board! Kudos to AMD.Degrador - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
These look like great chips - I'd say my next processor will be a 90nm 3000+.Btw, you've got the table a little screwy for overclocking - the processor speeds are labelled the wrong way around, and for the 3000+ overclock it should be 2592 (assuming 288x9).