Core Voltage: The Lower The Better
The MSI KT880 Delta allows just a minimum core voltage of 1.375 V.
We already mentioned reductions in the processor supply voltage in connection with low clock speeds. In our test, we were able to operate the AthlonXP stably at 300 MHz with a voltage of 1.375 V (1.65 V is usual for the AthlonXP 2800+). However, a far lower value can without a doubt be chosen safely. At these settings, 100% CPU load (induced by Prime95) produced maximum power loss of approx. 8.1 W; when idle it was just 5.6 W.
Record: Just 4.5 Watts Dissipation
We scored 4.1 amperes on the idle 300 MHz Athlon on a KV7 from Abit.
The change to an Abit KV7 with a KT600 chipset from VIA enabled the choice of just 1.1 V - not many motherboards permit this. The result is heartening: just 4.5 W for the idle processor (1.1 V x 4.1 A). This heat can now be easily dissipated by a passive cooling element.
