Barton's Here: Athlon XP 3000+ vs. P4 3.06 GHz

Say No To Thermal Death

About a year and a half ago, THG's article, Hot Spot: How Modern Processors Cope With Heat Emergencies , kicked up quite a furor in the industry. A first for us, the test was accompanied by a video for downloading. It showed the violent reaction of an AMD Athlon with a Palomino core - and a thermal diode - when the CPU cooler failed during ongoing operations.

AMD found itself in the hot seat, while the THG crew met with engineers from the manufacturers (AMD and Siemens) numerous times. A few weeks later, AMD presented a circuit logic that abruptly shuts off the power supply once the die temperature exceeds some 85 degrees Celsius.

For protection to be perfect, the CPU temperature measured by the thermal diode is checked in very short intervals to ensure that the power supply is cut off fast enough. Now all motherboard manufacturers have a new AMD Thermal Guide.

With hotter CPUs, and more components draining bigger power supplies, you just have to say no to thermal death, and make it a priority to keep your system cool, overclock freak or everyday power user.

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ManufacturerAMDAMDAMDAMDAMD
ProcessorAthlon XPw/Barton CoreAthlon XPw/Thoroughbred "B" CoreAthlon XPw/Thoroughbred Core "A" CoreAthlon XPw/Palomino CoreAthlonw/Thunderbird Core
IntroductionMarch 10, 2003Q3, 2002Q2, 2002Q4, 1999Q4, 1999
Clock Frequencies2.16 - 2.xx GHz1.86 - 2.66 GHz1.46 - 1.80 GHz1.2 - 1.80 GHz0.65 - 1.40 GHz
Manufacturing Process0.13 µm0.13 µm0.13 µm0.18 µm0.18 µm
Die size101 mm²84 mm²80 mm²128 mm²128 mm²
Number of Gates54.3 Million37.5 Million37.5 Million37.5 Million37.5 Million
PlatformSocket 462Socket 462Socket 462Socket 462Socket 462
CPU Bus Clock (Front Side Bus)166 MHz/ 333 MHz DDR133/166 MHz266/333 MHz DDR133 MHz/ 266 MHz DDR133 MHz/ 266 MHz DDR100/133 MHz266 MHz DDR
L1 Execution Cache Size64 kB64 kB64 kB64 kB64 kB
Execution Pre Decode?nonononono
L1 Data Cache Size64 kB64 kB64 kB64 kB64 kB
Hardware Data Prefetchyesyesyesyesyes
L1 Cache Clockcore clockcore clockcore clockcore clockcore clock
L1 Data Cache Bus Width64 bit64 bit64 bit64 bit64 bit
L2 Cache Size512 kB256 kB256 kB256 kB256 kB
L2 Cache Clockcore clockcore clockcore clockcore clockcore clock
L2 Cache Addressable Range64 GB64 GB64 GB64 GB64 GB
Processor Data Bus Width64 bit64 bit64 bit64 bit64 bit
ChipsetsVIA KT333 to KT400VIA KT333 to KT400VIA KT133A to KT400VIA KT133 to KT400VIA KT133 to KT400
SiS 735 and SiS 745SiS 735 and SiS 745SiS 735 and SiS 745SiS 735 and SiS 745SiS 735 and SiS 745
Row 20 - Cell 0 Row 20 - Cell 1 ALi Magik 1ALi Magik 1ALi Magik 1
Nvidia nForce, nForce 2Nvidia nForce, nForce 2Nvidia nForce, nForce 2Nvidia nForce, nForce 2Nvidia nForce, nForce 2
AMD 750 and 760AMD 750 and 760AMD 750 and 760AMD 750 and 760AMD 750 and 760
Memory Support
Type of MemoryDDR-SDRAMSDRAM, DDR-SDRAMSDRAM, DDR-SDRAMSDRAM, DDR-SDRAMSDRAM, DDR-SDRAM
Memory Clock133/ 166/ 200 MHz100/ 133/ 166/ 200 MHz100/ 133/ 166/ 200 MHz100/ 133/ 166 MHz100/ 133/ 166 MHz
Instruction Extensions
MMXyesyesyesyesyes
Enhanced 3DNow!yesyesyesyesyes
3DNow! Professionalyesyesyesyesyes
SSEyesyesyesyesyes
SSE2nonononono
Electrical Specifications
SMP-Supportno ('not officially endorsed or supported')no ('not officially endorsed or supported')no ('not officially endorsed or supported')no ('not officially endorsed or supported')no ('not officially endorsed or supported')
Core Voltage1.65 Volt1.65 Volt1.65 Volt1.75 Volt1.75 Volt
Thermal Protection (Thermal Diode)yesyesyesyesyes
Integrated Thermal Protection Logicno, requires logic on motherboardno, requires logic on motherboardno, requires logic on motherboardno, requires logic on motherboardno, requires logic on motherboard