Low Power Socket AM2 CPUs: A64 X2 3800+ 35w & X2 4600+

dougz · Post by **dougz** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:22 pm

Back in late May when AMD released Socket AM2 with the flagship FX62 it also released a number of CPUs from budget Semprons, as well as low power variants. Today we have in our possession two such CPUs. The Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 65 watt part, and the Athlon Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 35 watt part. These CPUs bring you dual core power with out as large a power bill. Certainly those who are energy conscience, and those looking for good overclockers should have their interest peaked. Today we will look at each CPUs power consumption, and their overclocking chops before we follow up with performance figures.
http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=m ... 257&page=1

... So we have our first look at the low power Socket AM2 parts. They are clearly attractively priced, and have some overclocking potential. We are hoping for some BIOS updates for better overclocking support for them from motherboard manufacturers, and we hope AMD continues to offer these parts. For those looking for low power systems, and for HTPC applications these seem ideal. The only downside so far appears to be that we can not yet locate them for sale.
http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=m ... 257&page=3

smilingcrow · Post by **smilingcrow** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 7:50 am

Nice mini-review. It was interesting to see how power hungry even a 7600GT is versus a 6150 IGP; 40W difference at idle. Gulp.

I would expect a site called AMDZone to be somewhat partisan; but it still brought a smile to my face when they stated how reasonably priced they thought the 35W X2 3800 is at $364.

The Conroe E6300 @ $183 seems more reasonable to me!

TheLongshot · Post by **TheLongshot** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:05 am

smilingcrow wrote:I would expect a site called AMDZone to be somewhat partisan; but it still brought a smile to my face when they stated how reasonably priced they thought the 35W X2 3800 is at $364. The Conroe E6300 @ $183 seems more reasonable to me!

They are probably thinking about how that will map to the price reductions that will happen later in the month. The regular 3800 is still priced around $300.

Jason

Bicster · Post by **Bicster** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:21 pm

Is there any credible information on when the 35W X2 3800+ will ship?

EvilNick · Post by **EvilNick** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:45 am

If this is any indication:
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/external/ ... _id=522040

The 35W version is not going to get a price cut at all.

Even the 65W 4200+ is slated to be cheaper than the 35W 3800+.

At least the 65W 3800+ will give the E6300 a run for its money at the new price point, what more with Core 2 Duo mobos looking to be bloody expensive.

wundi · Post by **wundi** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:19 am

Guru3D wrote:We have seen the new pricing model starting July 24th, 2006.

http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=4166

S939 parts get the same (low!) prices as AM2, Hooray!

35W X2 3800+ EE $231, Hooray?

smilingcrow · Post by **smilingcrow** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:45 am

wundi wrote:35W X2 3800+ EE $231, Hooray?

I canâ€™t quite see the attraction myself. From next month youâ€™ll be able to get a Merom 1.67 for $209, which will be a close match in performance but consume around 20W when undervolted. Of course the money you save on the CPU will be dwarfed by the extra cost of the motherboard. If cost is the primary issue, then an E6300 at $183, when undervolted should be a good match for the AM2 part. Itâ€™s nice to have all this choice all of a sudden

Bicster · Post by **Bicster** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 5:20 pm

I still want AMD for two reasons:

1. SVM. I am building Xen servers with these things. AMD's processor virtualization is a little more advanced than Intel's.

2. 64-bit performance. Core2 loses a lot of its performance advantage in 64-bit mode. I run in this mode all the time.

Ok, three reasons:

3. They're still the underdog.

I wish they would manage to ship a few of these puppies.

smilingcrow · Post by **smilingcrow** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 12:23 am

Bicster wrote:2. 64-bit performance. Core2 loses a lot of its performance advantage in 64-bit mode. I run in this mode all the time.

Which O/S are you referring to here? This review looks at performance under Windows XP Pro x64 and concludes that AMD gained 16% whilst Intel gained 10% in the move to 64 bit. For me, the jury is still out until Vista ships and there are enough native 64 bit applications released so that I can see how image/video editing programs perform under x64.
With Linux I suppose the verdict may already be in and the judge has passed sentence