Socket A: June 2000 To Today, Continued
AMD entered its model numbering in the struggle for performance ascendancy, which cause a good deal of confusion. The first XP CPU was 1800+, but only clocked at 1,533 MHz. The model numbering was, according to AMD, supposed to be a clock frequency comparable to the Athlon Thunderbird, but was clearly aimed at the clock speed of arch-enemy Intel. This resulted in true chaos and prompted discussions that linger on through today. The clock speeds of the processor and FSB increased, but not nearly as drastically as with Intel. The CPU speed of the XP series climbed from 1333 MHz to 2250 MHz, while the AthlonXP 2800+ with the just-mentioned clock speed was reserved only for the media and never appeared on retail shelves. It was available with a FSB speed of 133 to 200 MHz.
The fastest AthlonXP CPU is the Barton 3200+, which has an L2 cache of 512 kB. Because AMD still has generous warehouse inventory of the AthlonXP, a new label - the Sempron - is being introduced. This has the same structure as the aging AthlonXP.
Socket A says its final farewell with the launch of its final Sempron processor in the winter of 2004.
Athlon with Thunderbird B core and 100 MHz FSB has a max. thermal power loss of 72 Watts!
