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Review: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 'Venice' Overclocking

by Tarinder Sandhu on 3 June 2005, 00:00

Tags: AMD (NYSE:AMD)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qabhh

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System setup and notes

Hardware and Software

Test Platforms

System Intel Pentium (4) System AMD Athlon 64 System
Processor(s) Pentium 4 530J
Pentium 4 570J
Pentium 4 670
Pentium D 820
Pentium XE 840
Athlon 64 3000+
Athlon 64 3500+
Athlon 64 4000+
Athlon 64 FX-55
Athlon 64 X2 4800+
Mainboards Intel D955XBK i955XE ABIT Fatal1ty AN8 nForce4 Ultra
ASUS AN8 SLI for X2 4800+
Memory 2 x 512MB Corsair XMS2-5400UL 2 x 512MB Corsair Xpert XL DDR-400
Timings 3-2-2-8 @ 533MHz 2-2-2-5 @ 400MHz
BIOS Version BK95510J.86A.1452.EB BIOS -13 for ABIT AN8 - 23/03/05 for A8N-SLI
Disk Drive 160GB Western Digital PATA
Graphics Card ATI RADEON X850 XT PE
CATALYST 5.3
Operating System Windows XP Professional, SP2
Mainboard Software Intel INF Update Utility 7.0.0.1019 NVIDIA nForce4 Platform Driver 6.39


Benchmark Software

HEXUS.in-house Cryptography Benchmark
HEXUS Pifast Benchmark
ScienceMark 2.0 (7th February 2005)
Realstorm 2004
CINEBENCH 2003
HEXUS.in-house MP3 Encoding Benchmark using LAME 3.97a (Intel HT compiler) - 701MB WAV
Microsoft Movie Maker 2.1
picCOLOR 32-bit v4.0
KribiBench v1.1
3DMark2001SE b330
UT2003 - HEXUS custom bot test
DOOM 3 v1282
Far Cry v1.3

Notes



CPU naming has become confusing of late. MHz is no longer the 'in' term for defining a processor's performance. The brief table below states the clock speed, cache, and retail price for the models listed above.

CPU Clock speed L2 cache Core and process Additional features Retail price
Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8GHz 512KB Venice - 90nm SSE 3 £105
Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz 512KB Winchester - 90nm £179
Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4GHz 1MB Clawhammer - 130nm* £340
Athlon 64 FX-55 2.6GHz 1MB Clawhammer - 130nm* Multiplier-unlocked £550
Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 2.4GHz 2MB - 1MB per core Toledo - 90nm Dual core £650
Pentium 4 530J 3.0GHz 1MB Prescott £115
Pentium 4 570J 3.8GHz 1MB Prescott £300
Pentium 4 670 3.8GHz 2MB Prescott EMT64 £450
Pentium D 820 2.8GHz 2MB - 1MB per core Prescott Dual core £185
Pentium XE 840 3.2GHz 2MB - 1MB per core Prescott Dual core, HT £700?


* Athlon 64 4000+ is also available in 90nm form. It based on the San Diego core, which is just the Venice with double the L2 cache.

With due appreciation of the pricing for various top-end CPUs, it's prudent to compare the Athlon 64 3000+ Venice's performance against a Pentium 4 530J. You can compare the overclocked performance to anything you like.

Hot or not?

I mentioned that Venice cores were recipients of both SOI and DSL technology. They should, in theory, lower the CPU's heat output when compared to older Clawhammer- and Winchester-based processors running at a similar speed. To test this notion, an Athlon 64 4000+ (Clawhammer core, 193mm² die size) was run at its default 1.5v operating voltage and subjected to 15 minutes of Prime95's torture test. The same test was run on the Athlon 64 3000+, using the same voltage and speed. On both occasions the heatsink and CPUs were cleaned and a fresh coat of TIM was applied. Note that the Venice core is only 83mm², so heat generated is dissipated over a smaller area. Readings were taken from ABIT's EQ system-monitoring software.



At the same voltage and speed, then, the Venice 3000+ was a full 14c cooler than the 1MB L2 cache-equipped Athlon 64 4000+.