Athlon XP 2100+: AMD Turns Up The Heat

Important: Bios Update For Athlon XP 2100+

Multipliers that are larger than 12.5 are available in BIOS - yet the processor still works with a translation table.

BIOS has to be updated for all motherboards so that they can show the correct model number (performance rating) above 2000. However, the processor's performance does not improve after the update - without new BIOS software, the real clock rate of 1733 MHz is displayed.

Power Loss: New Top Values In Sight

Increasing the clock rate by 66 MHz compared to the Athlon XP 2000+ automatically increases the power loss. This automatically places the Athlon XP 2100+, with 72.9 watts thermal power loss, almost at the top of all 35 AMD processors for Socket 462! The Athlon XP 2200+, which will be available soon, will have the highest heat loss of all AMD CPUs. Everyone who uses a fast XP CPU should be well aware of the fact that a high-quality cooler is definitely necessary. Cheap run-of-the-mill coolers will definitely condemn the processor to death by fire, if not very soon then at least in the medium term. Our article Hot Spot: How Modern Processors Cope With Heat Emergencies will give you detailed information on this subject. The table above lists the power loss ratings for 35 AMD processors.