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The CPU Articles
Topics:

New Energy-efficient Processors

7:54 PM - May 23, 2006 by Bert Töpelt
Source: Tom's Hardware US – Keywords: amd, reinvents
Topics: AMD/ATI

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Table of Contents:
17 – New Energy-efficient Processors
  1. 1 – The AMD Generation Comes Of Age
  2. 2 – New Socket AM2 With DDR2
  3. 3 – Memory Speed: Socket AM2 Vs. Socket 939
  4. 4 – Write Performance
  5. 5 – Write Performance, Continued
  6. 6 – Write Performance, Continued
  7. 7 – Memory Speed: AMD Vs. Intel
  8. 8 – Memory Speed: AMD Vs. Intel, Continued
  9. 9 – The Divider Problem
  10. 10 – DDR2 SLI Memory: 10.3 GB Per Second
  11. 11 – Automatically Overclocking SLI Memory
  12. 12 – Automatically Overclocking SLI Memory, Continued
  13. 13 – All New AM2 Processors
  14. 14 – The New Socket AM2 With 940 Pins
  15. 15 – New Retention Module Requires New Heatsink
  16. 16 – Low Dissipation Guaranteed
  17. 17 – New Energy-efficient Processors
  18. 18 – Heatsinks: Things Gets Louder, Continued
  19. 19 – Features: Virtualization And TCPA
  20. 20 – Price Comparison: AMD More Expensive Than Intel
  21. 21 – Motherboards
  22. 22 – Gigabyte
  23. 23 – Epox
  24. 24 – The New nForce5 Chipset For AM2
  25. 25 – LAN Interface With 2 Gbit/s
  26. 26 – Test Setup
  27. 27 – Benchmarks And Settings
  28. 28 – Benchmarks Socket 939 Vs. Socket AM2
  29. 29 – Games - DirectX
  30. 30 – Games - DirectX, Continued
  31. 31 – Video
  32. 32 – Video, Continued
  33. 33 – Video, Continued
  34. 34 – Video, Continued
  35. 35 – Audio
  36. 36 – Applications
  37. 37 – Applications, Continued
  38. 38 – Applications, Continued
  39. 39 – Multitasking, Continued
  40. 40 – Synthetic Benchmarks
  41. 41 – Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
  42. 42 – Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
  43. 43 – Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
  44. 44 – Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
  45. 45 – Evaluating The Benchmark Scores
  46. 46 – Athlon 64 X2: Now Somewhat Slower
  47. 47 – Benchmarks AMD Vs. Intel
  48. 48 – Games - DirectX
  49. 49 – Games - DirectX, Continued
  50. 50 – Video, Continued
  51. 51 – Audio
  52. 52 – Applications
  53. 53 – Applications, Continued
  54. 54 – Multitasking
  55. 55 – Synthetic Benchmarks
  56. 56 – Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
  57. 57 – Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
  58. 58 – Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
  59. 59 – Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
  60. 60 – Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
  61. 61 – AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 Vs. Intel Extreme Edition 965
  62. 62 – Conclusion: Good Energy Efficiency, But A Bad Value For Money

New Energy-efficient Processors

AMD is well-known for its energy-saving processors. To further strengthen this feature, AMD has now introduced energy efficiency classes, which are indicated by initials:

  • A: Conventional processors with "normal" energy class
  • O: Energy-efficient processor with maximum power of 65 Watt
  • D: Energy-efficient processor with maximum power of 35 Watt
Energy-Efficient Processors
Model A (Normal) O D
FX-62 125 W    
X2 5000+ 89 W    
X2 4800+ 89 W 65 W  
X2 4600+ 89 W 65 W  
X2 4400+ 89 W 65 W  
X2 4200+ 89 W 65 W  
X2 4000+ 89 W 65 W  
X2 3800+ 89 W 65 W 35 W
Athlon 64 3800+ 62 W    
Athlon 64 3500+ 62 W   35 W
Athlon 64 3200+ 62 W    
Athlon 64 3000+ 62 W    
Sempron 3600+ 62 W    
Sempron 3500+ 62 W    
Sempron 3400+ 62 W   35 W
Sempron 3200+ 62 W   35 W
Sempron 3000+ 62 W   35 W
Sempron 2800+ 62 W    

AMD charges a few dollars more for the processors in the low energy classes "O" and "D".

Heatsinks: Things Gets Louder

To ensure that the heat produced by the high thermal dissipation of up to 125 W can be removed, AMD had to develop a new heatsink for Socket AM2.

The new boxed heatsink for the AM2 socket

This new boxed heatsink has a thinner copper plate with a smaller surface area compared to its predecessor, and also has four heatpipes. This removes the heat from the base plate and distributes it evenly among the steel fins, which remain in a vertical arrangement.

The fan used is the same 70 mm model familiar from the old boxed heatsink.

The two heatsinks compared: the new model...

...and the old heatsink for Socket 939.

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