AMD Athlon 64 3800+: Probing the Venice Core

Name: AMD Athlon 64 3800+: Probing the Venice Core - Page 5
Brand: AMD

by Marco Chiappetta — Sunday, May 01, 2005, 10:00 PM EDT

This next set of experiments is a bit different. What we did here was lower the .13 micron Newcastle core based processor's voltage to 1.4v to compare total system power consumption while both CPUs were supplied with the same voltage. As you lower the supply voltage, total power consumption should go down (POWER [WATTS] = VOLTS x AMPERES). Keep in mind though, that we were only able to complete this test because our particular Newcastle based CPU, which normally requires 1.5v, was perfectly stable at its stock clock speed with only 1.4v. Should you want to duplicate this test, however, your mileage may vary. There is no guarantee that a Newcastle based Athlon 64 will be stable with a 1.4v core voltage.

Athlon 64 3800+ System Power Consumption: .09 & .13 Micron @ 1.4v

How Does the voltage affect consumption?

(Newcastle @ 1.5v = 26^oC @ Idle | 37^oC @ 100% load)

(Newcastle @ 1.5v = 91Watts @ Idle | 140 Watts @ 100% load)

As you can see, the Newcastle based 3800+ ran markedly cooler, and used less power with its voltage lowered to 1.4v. The voltage drop, however, wasn't enough to account for the total temperature and power consumption differences between the two different cores. Based on our experiments, it certainly seems that AMD's .09 micron Venice core runs a bit cooler and uses somewhat less power then is .13 micron counterpart.

Tags: AMD, Core, Nic, Athlon, Bing, Ice, nice, Athlon 64, pro, AM

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com