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Regular Power: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ BE (65 W TDP)

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2:00 AM - 03/31/2009 by Patrick Schmid and Achim Roos

While the low-power parts are named Athlon X2, the regular models are still sold as Athlon 64 X2. We wanted to also include a regular 65 W AMD processor to look at the power consumption difference, so we decided to get the one that makes the most sense: the 5400+ Black Edition at 2.8 GHz stock speed. There would be an Athlon 64 X2 5600+ at 2.9 GHz, which is also still rated at 65 W TDP—all faster models are 89 W parts—but the memory clock of this part would not be able to hit the full 400 MHz for DDR2-800 operation.

Remember that the CPUs have to derive the memory clock from the core clock: 2,800 MHz divided by 7 is a perfect match for 400 MHz memory clock speed, but 2,900 MHz divided by 7.5—which is required to stay within specifications—results in 387 MHz or DDR2-773, which would have erased the 100 MHz clock speed benefit. In addition to these issues, this processor is a so-called Black Edition, meaning that you can overclock it using an adjustable multiplier.

The voltage of this mainstream 65 W processor is slightly higher than the 1.20 V we found on the Athlon X2 5050e: we tracked 1.295 V at full clock speed, and 1.075 V when idle at 1.0 GHz core clock. This alone makes quite a difference, and the clock speed increase of 200 MHz does the rest. The system running the 5400+ required 4 W more idle power and 21 W more peak power. Both fail to impress, as the total system peak power of 106 W is very much the same as on the Intel comparison system, which in this case was running a Core 2 Quad Q9550s low power 65 W quad-core processor. Looking at the benchmark results, it becomes obvious that this CPU only makes sense if you overclock it.

Talkback
Anonymous 03/31/2009 8:27 AM
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45nm high k MG vs. already week 65nm plus core 2 archetectual superiortity = no contest, I really wish AMD had a twin on 45nm for notebooks.

sonofliberty08 03/31/2009 8:40 AM
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PCMark only run good on Intel CPU , they found it on VIA chips .

bodisan 03/31/2009 11:00 AM
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There is a problem in your rationale for calculating power efficiency. You measured the power needed for the systems to complete a 3D Mark test, and then you compared the results, but you cannot do that because 3D Mark gets whatever it can from a processor or a graphics card over a fixed period of time, so technically the systems do not have the same task to complete. It would have been more interesting to test on video encoding or archiving software, because no matter what, the task there is exactly the same no matter what. And if you would have done so, I suspect the final results would have been even more in favor of the intel processors. Hope I'm not wrong!

wdmso 03/31/2009 11:41 AM
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Who cares about power efficiency. its like getting a big Mac large fries with a diet coke and saying your on a diet. unless all your system parts are purchased with efficiency in mind this comparison is point less .
who buys a e8500 with out a mid to high range graphics card?

randomizer 03/31/2009 1:50 PM
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wdmso :
who buys a e8500 with out a mid to high range graphics card?


Someone interested in real work.

ifko_pifko 03/31/2009 2:12 PM
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Somehow I don't understand the Average power consumption... I thought that 3D/PC Mark Vantage can use 4 cores... How can the low power AMD consume more on average than Q9550s?
That AMD system needs less power in idle and in peak... So it seems that comparing peak power consumption is poinless. Or you have a mistake somewhere else.

Anonymous 03/31/2009 2:23 PM
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maybe someone like a photographer working with big raw files might buy a e8500 with a low-mid (if they do not use Photoshop CS4) graphics card.

i was actually thinking of getting an e8400, 4gig ram and a low end graphics card to do photo editing in lightroom, does anyone know whether a q8200 would be quicker (i doubt it)? i live in south africa, our computer part are quite expensive, so a core i7 920 with 3gb ram (including cheapest gigabyte x58 mb) is nearly double what a mid-range gigabyte 775 mb, e8400 (or q8200 - they cost the same here) and 4gb ddr2 ram is

lamorpa 03/31/2009 2:33 PM
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Anonymous 03/31/2009 2:38 PM
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Why oh why is the Intel E5200 not included here? Anyone even looking at the AMD 5050e would not be comparing it to an E8500 or anything quad core - even if technically at full load those processors could do more work/watt. If you're looking for a truly low-power build, you're looking at the AMD 5050e and the Intel E5200, and you're not overclocking anything. (Maybe the E7xxx series, maybe)

Anonymous 03/31/2009 3:20 PM
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In Hungary the AMD 5050E: under 80USD, 5600+: 75USD,
Intel: E7200: 130USD, E8500:220USD, Q8200S over 300USD, Q9550S over 475USD...
So what are we compare? Phenom???

Seikent 03/31/2009 3:25 PM
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-7+

5050e -> $65
5400BE -> $58

e7200 -> ~$110
e8500 -> $180
etc...
it's an old story that core 2 duo/quad cpus are more efficient than the Athlon X2 cpus, so if you're going to compare these processors again, use processors in the same price range, because the difference in power usage isn't going to pay the extra investment under normal circumstances (I think).

Anonymous 03/31/2009 3:38 PM
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So typical Tom's putting Intel quads against amd dual core. And even high end core duos when the right competition would've been pentiums.

bvbellomo 03/31/2009 3:51 PM
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I really wish performance per watt was measured in total system watts, not just CPU watts.

sublifer 03/31/2009 4:09 PM
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As long as you're looking at performance per watt and trying to see if these products make sense, you should include a performance per watt per dollar graph and see where everything ends up. Ideally that chart should be relatively flat to indicate that you get what you pay for.

sublifer 03/31/2009 4:28 PM
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Okay, quick price check and a little division later:
(B4B=bang for buck=perforformance per watt per dollar)

price 3Dmark B4B PCmark B4B
Q9550s @ $400 0.470 0.705
Q8200s @ $265 0.657 1.011
E8500 @ $180 1.094 1.489
E7200 @ $120 1.583 2.250
X25050e@ $65 2.846 2.277
X25400+@ $58 2.672 2.224

As we all know, bang for buck gets better when you look at cheaper parts. The X2 5050e actually wins bang for buck and the X2 5400 doesn't do too bad either. Because of the graphically better 780G platform the AMD CPUs leave the Intel CPUs in the dust in 3D bang for buck.

sublifer 03/31/2009 4:29 PM
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My formatting went to pot but I imagine most of you can make sense out of it.

JimmiG 03/31/2009 5:12 PM
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AMD is really hurting by not having any high-clocked, 45nm dual-core CPUs out. On the other hand, it looks like they are trying to position the Phenom II X3 as a direct competitor to the mid-range Core 2 Duos. How does the efficiency of the X3's (and X4's) compare to those same Intel CPUs?

The Athlon X2's are still fine CPUs for many users, though. I used a 5600+ in a system I built for my mum. It was very cheap and more than fast enough for her needs, and the 780G is a solid platform.

shortstuff_mt 03/31/2009 5:34 PM
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Did Tom's Hardware really just compare 65nm AMD chips against 45nm Intel chips? I want the 10 minutes of my life I just wasted reading this garbage back.

jeffredo 03/31/2009 6:54 PM
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It would take a long time to make up for the difference in price with miniscule power savings on a CPU - like forever.

zipzoomflyhigh 03/31/2009 7:38 PM
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