
Four months after the introduction of AMD's Socket 939 platform, AMD latest processor crop is here. Only a week after Intel's announcement to drop plans of hitting 4 GHz any time soon, AMD now tries to hit Intel where it hurts with an even faster and architecturally improved device. AMD's latest processor performance success is also based on how AMD, with its Athlon64 4000+ and FX-55 launches, still manages to wring more performance out of its 130 nm process. This is also after Intel switched to 90 nm in February.
The 2.6 GHz Athlon64 FX-55 and the Athlon64 4000+ represent AMD's latest processor launch since the debut of the 2.4 GHz FX-53. However, the 4000+'s benchmarks are identical to those of the FX-53. Does the Athlon64 thus merit its 4000+ label?
One interpretation is that AMD is now setting the shortly-lived performance standards in the AMD and Intel processor performance wars. With the Athlon64 3800+ the chip firm introduced a QuantiSpeed rating that exceeded the clock speed of Intel's fastest processor for the first time. Now, the 4000+ sets another landmark that can be considered a serious challenge for Intel.
Additionally, AMD is phasing in its 90 nm Winchester cores, which are really shrunken Newcastle cores with a 512 kB L2 cache.
AMD is also making the move with considerably less fanfare than when Intel shifted to its 90 nm production process. The company will also initially use the high-volume process to make its lower-speed devices. The downside of AMD's quiet shift to 90 nm is that you will have to study the data sheets in order to tell the 130 nm and 90 nm versions apart as the processors' packaging and documentation will not make the distinction.
Since AMD's 90 nm Athlon64 3500+ is rated at 67 W, while the 130 nm part consumed a maximum of 89 W, we expect the new core to be able to finally hit the 3 GHz barrier within six months. However, the race to 3 GHz also depends on how fast Intel can get back on the high-clock speed road again, and entice AMD to offer even faster processors.

Source: AMD website.
The Athlon64 and its bigger brother Athlon64 FX have been around for over a year. They have since become that much more attractive with the release of Socket 939. Now, the most important difference with the Opteron's Socket 940 is that no registered memory is required. Also, while Socket 754 only supports 64 Bit single channel DDR400 memory, Socket 939 Athlon64 processors run in 128 bit dual channel mode. The integrated memory interface is, in fact, one of the most important architectural keys that unlocks the Socket 939 Athlon64's performance.
Here is a quick comparison of all processors:
| Model | Clock | L2 Cache | Socket | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athlon64 | 3000+ | 2.0 GHz | 512 kB | 754 | $ 173 |
| Athlon64 | 3000+ | 1.8 GHz | 512 kB | 939 | $ 173 |
| Athlon64 | 3200+ | 2.0 GHz | 1 MB | 754 | $ 227 |
| Athlon64 | 3200+ | 2.0 GHz | 512 kB | 939 | $ 227 |
| Athlon64 | 3400+ | 2.2 GHz | 512 kB | 754 | $ 288 |
| Athlon64 | 3500+ | 2.2 GHz | 512 kB | 939 | $ 346 |
| Athlon64 | 3700+ | 2.4 GHz | 1 MB | 754 | $ 507 |
| Athlon64 | 3800+ | 2.4 GHz | 512 kB | 939 | $ 643 |
| Athlon64 | 4000+ | 2.4 GHz | 1 MB | 939 | $ 729 |
| Athlon64 | FX-53 | 2.4 GHz | 1 MB | 939 | $ 729* |
| Athlon64 | FX-55 | 2.6 GHZ | 1 MB | 939 | $ 827 |
| *will be phased out soon | |||||
All the basic information around AMD64 and the Athlon64 processors can be found here:
AMD's support for 64 Bit instructions and memory addressing represents a necessary step in processor evolution. Yet operating systems and application support are still lacking so that this still not a must-have feature for the average user today. However, this will likely change with the official availability of the WindowsXP 64 Bit edition, which could see launch early next year.
Now, 64 Bit capabilities are thus becoming more important, which is why Intel will finally introduce its EM64T extensions to the desktop market with the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition for Socket 775 and FSB1066. Until then, the Athlon64 largely has an exclusive hold in the 64 bit mass market.
Meanwhile, AMD has jumped ahead with power-saving features. While Intel has yet to implement Enhanced Speedstep Technology for its Pentium 4's, AMD has already offered Cool & Quiet since the very launch of the Athlon64.
However, Socket 940 platforms are not capable of changing the core clock speed due to their registered memory not being flexible. For both Socket 754 and Socket 939 architectures, Cool & Quiet requires the following:
- BIOS support;
- Cool & Quiet Windows driver installation, adding a tab to the power options;
- Change of Windows power scheme in order to enable 'Minimal Power Management.'
Lastly, AMD supports the NX-bit security features DEP or Data Execution Prevention. After WindowsXP Service Pack 2 is installed DEP allows for memory areas to be marked as non-executable. Here, malicious code, written by buffer overflows, won't be executed any more. However, this feature also requires BIOS support.

As we already mentioned, the Athlon64 4000+'s basic architecture is the same as the Athlon64 FX-53.
This is why all the technical specs are identical: Sledgehammer core, 2.4 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, Socket 939 and 89 Watts Thermal Design Power. Things like Cool & Quiet and NX-support are also available.
Releasing the 4000+ is a smart move as it does not cause any changes in the current 130 nm production. Only the labeling has changed compared to its predecessor.
Regarding the FX-55, obviously AMD has achieved a better-than-expected yield rate with its 130 nm process as it has managed to launch a 2.6 GHz device based on 130 nm. Previously, AMD was not expected to offer devices at this speed prior to starting up its 90 nm process.
As the non-FX CPUs reach better sales due to more attractive pricing, the former FX-53 is simply transformed into a 4000+. Using the Newcastle core with 512 kB cache at increased clock speed hence is not necessary and leaves production capacities for lower-speed versions that are desperately needed in order to make Socket 939 affordable for average users.

AMD did it again: After turning Athlon XP into Sempron, the FX-53 now will be the Athlon64 4000+.



As mentioned above, the Athlon64 FX-55's 2.6 GHz speed was made possible by squeezing even more out of its 130 nm manufacturing process.
Features and technical data remain the same as with the FX-53 except for a 200 MHz faster core clock speed at 2.6 GHz rather than 2.4 GHz. With the introduction of the FX-55, AMD will eventually phase out the FX-53.



Once again, we want to emphasize how important decent memory for the Athlon64 family is. Since the memory controller is integrated, performance benefits can be realized by using RAM with short timings. See this article in order to learn more about memory access and the importance of low-latency memory.
Click to enlarge!
There are only very minor differences between Athlon64 motherboards since the memory controller is not part of the chipset, but instead, is part of the processor. However, one of the fastest boards that we tested is Asus' A8V, which uses the VIA K8T800 Pro chipset.

PCI Express To Come
Regarding interfaces, Intel already has the advantage with the Pentium 4 chipset's PCI Express capabilities. However, Athlon64 chipsets with PCI Express will be available as early as this year. Although there is still no difference between a high-end AGP and PCI Express graphics solutions, the new interface will become important in 2005 - both for graphics and add-on components such as video cards, TV tuners, storage adapters, etc.
These days, the three chip makers ATi, NVIDIA and VIA are fighting in order to get their PCI Express enabling Athlon64 chipsets ready. VIA has paper-launched the capability, NVIDIA is launching it today and ATi will follow suit in a few weeks.
All three chipsets will have a different focus. While NVIDIA goes for maximum features with the nForce4 Ultra, followed by an nForce4 SLI for dual graphics applications, ATi will try to offer lower price points.
VIA's K8T890 Pro will likely aim to offer dual graphics capabilities at a more affordable price point than NVIDIA devices, with motherboards with decent features that will retail for more than $ 200.
| Intel Processors (Socket 775) | |
|---|---|
| 200 MHz FSB (Dual DDR400) | Pentium 4 EE 3.40 GHz (3400 MHz 12-8/512/2048 kB)
Pentium 4 560 (3200 MHz 12-16/1024 kB) Pentium 4 550 (3200 MHz 12-16/1024 kB) Pentium 4 540 (3200 MHz 12-16/1024 kB) Pentium 4 530 (3200 MHz 12-16/1024 kB) |
| Intel Processors (Socket 478) | |
| 200 MHz FSB (Dual DDR400) | Pentium 4 EE 3.40 GHz (3400 MHz 12-8/512/2048 kB)
Pentium 4 EE 3.20 GHz (3200 MHz 12-8/512/2048 kB) |
| 200 MHz FSB (Dual DDR400) | Pentium 4 3.40E GHz (3200 MHz 12-16/1024 kB)
Pentium 4 3.20E GHz (3200 MHz 12-16/1024 kB) Pentium 4 3.00E GHz (3000 MHz 12-16/1024 kB) |
| 200 MHz FSB (Dual DDR400) | Pentium 4 3.40 GHz (3400 MHz 12-8/512 kB)
Pentium 4 3.20 GHz (3200 MHz 12-8/512 kB) Pentium 4 3.00 GHz (3000 MHz 12-8/512 kB) |
| AMD Processors (Socket 939) | |
| 200 MHz FSB (DUAL DDR400) | Athlon FX-55 (2600 MHz 128/1024 kB)
Athlon FX-53 (2400 MHz 128/1024 kB) Athlon FX-51 (2200 MHz 128/1024 kB) Athlon 64 4000+ (2400 MHz 128/1024 kB) Athlon 64 3800+ (2400 MHz 128/512 kB) Athlon 64 3500+ (2200 MHz 128/512 kB) |
| Memory | |
| Intel Pentium 4
(Socket 775) |
2 x 512 MB - DDR2-533 (266 MHz)
Infineon 64T64000GU3.7A Timings : CL 3.0-3-3-4 Voltage : 1.9 V |
| Intel Pentium 4
(Socket 478) |
4 x 256 MB - DDR400 (200 MHz)
Corsair TwinX CMX256A-3200LL XMS32005 V1.1 Timings : CL 2.0-2-2-5 Voltage : 2.5 V |
| AMD Athlon 64
AMD Athlon 64 FX (Socket 939) |
2 x 512 MB - DDR400
Corsair CMX512-3500C2 XMS3502 V1.1 Timings : CL 2.0-2-2-5 Voltage : 2.7 V |
| Intel-Motherboards | |
| Intel 925X (Sockel 775) | MSI MS-7053 Rev. 1.0
BIOS : V1.2 (09/15/2004) Network : Broadcom BCM7515KFB Gigabit (PCI-E) |
| Intel 875P (Sockel 478) | Asus P4C800-E Deluxe, Rev. 1.02
BIOS : 1017 (07/22/2004) Network : Intel 82547EI GBit (CSA) |
| AMD-Motherboards | |
| VIA K8T800 (Socket 939) | ASUS A8V, Rev. 1.02
BIOS : 1006 (06/17/2004) Network : Marvell Yukon Gbit |
| Common Hardware | |
| Sound Card | Terratec Aureon 7.1 Space
96.00 kHz sample rate |
| Graphics Card
AGP |
Gigabyte GV-N68T256D
GPU : NVIDIA Geforce 6800 GT (350 MHz) Memory : 256 MB DDR-SDRAM (500 MHz) |
| Graphics Card
PCIE |
NVIDIA Reference Card
GPU : NVIDIA Geforce 6800 GT (350 MHz) Memory : 256 MB DDR-SDRAM (500 MHz) |
| Hard Drive (AMD System) | Promise FastTrak S150 TX2plus (Bios : 1.00.0.37)
2 x SATA Maxtor 7B250S00 (Raid 0) 250 GB / 16 MB Cache / 7200 rpm |
| DVD/CD-ROM | MSI MS-8216D 16x DVD |
| Software | |
| Intel Chipset | V 6.0.1.1002 |
| Nvidia nForce | Nvidia V5.10 |
| Nvidia Graphic AGP and PCIE | Detonator 61.77 |
| VIA Chipset | VIA Hyperion 4 in 1 V4.53 |
| DirectX | Version : 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) |
| OS | Windows XP, Build 2600 SP2 |
Benchmark Results
OpenGL

DirectX 9


Here, the graphics board is a huge bottleneck which causes most of the fast processors to perform close to each other.









Application











Other

Previously, the latest Pentium 4 processors were able to outperform AMD's CPUs when it came to encoding tasks, which was practically the only benchmark for which the Pentium bested the Athlon64 according to our previous tests.
Now, we see that the new FX-55 at 2.6 GHz is able to close most of the remaining gaps in the Pentium 4's performance lead for MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or MP3 encoding as well as the video editing software Studio 9 and is almost head to head with the Pentium 4 Processor 560 or the Extreme Edition at 3.4 GHz.
When it comes to games and multimedia, the FX-55 gains even more lead over the P4 processor family, beating the Extreme Edition in 3DMark, Doom 3, Far Cry, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Wolfenstein ET. These are also precisely the applications for which the P4 EE and the Athlon FX are designed. Only some synthetic benchmarks, 3DStudio Max and encoding applications like Windows Media Encoder 9 are still dominated by Intel's processors.
However, if we compare the substantial price difference between mid-range and high-end processors and take into consideration the narrow performance delta, there is only very little reason why one should one spend over $800 for an Athlon64 FX-55 or $999 for the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition.
Both companies offer exclusive devices for a tiny audience and are in the midst of a prestige war that does not bring much benefit to the customer. Back in 1996, there was still a huge performance gap between a Pentium 133 MHz and the top model Pentium MMX 233 in terms of price and performance. Today, the performance gap between the fastest and the slowest processors in our benchmark charts is rather small.
Meanwhile, despite the marginal differences in performances between the high-end and low-end lines from both AMD and Intel, the bright winner of today's race is AMD's Athlon64 FX-55, as Intel's Extreme Edition loses more ground.
