Athlon 64 X2 Energy Efficient Processors
Test Systems, Vital Signs And Temperatures
Below are our systems specs for the various configurations we tested. Next we'll step through some initial voltage and temperature measurements we with these new energy efficient Athlon 64 X2 chips.
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System 1:
Intel D975XBX
Asus P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP Edition
Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe SE
2x512MB Corsair PC-8500 |
System 2: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (2.4GHz) AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0GHz) AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (2.6GHz) Asus M2NPV-VM (nForce 430) Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe (NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI) (Overclocking and Power tests only) 2x512MB Corsair PC-8500 CL 4-4-4-12-1T - DDR2-800 2xGeForce 7900 GTX On-board Ethernet On-board Audio WD740 "Raptor" HD 10,000 RPM SATA Windows XP Pro SP2 nForce 4 Drivers v6.86 NVIDIA Forceware v91.27 DirectX 9.0c |
System 3: Intel Pentium XE 965 (3.73GHz) Intel D975XBX Motherboard (975x Chipset) 2x512MB Corsair PC-8500 CL 4-4-4-12-1T - DDR2-800 GeForce 7900 GTX (CPU Tests) On-board Ethernet On-board Audio WD740 "Raptor" HD 10,000 RPM SATA Windows XP Pro SP2 Intel INF 8.0.1.1002 NVIDIA Forceware v91.27 DirectX 9.0c |
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A quick scan in CPU-Z shows just what voltages and clock speeds the two new chips are running at in our test system.
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CPU-Z Processor Details - Athlon 64 X2 3800+ And 4600+
Here we see the Athlon 64 3800+ EE clocking in at 2GHz and a svelte 1.02v, while the 4600+ EE show 2.4GHz at 1.184v. Incidentally, these tests were run with AMD "Cool-n-Quiet" disabled to show the processors in their full-speed state. Next we'll show you what Cool-n-Quiet clock gating looks like under no-load conditions.
Temperature And Voltage Monitor - No Load
;) Athlon 64 X2 3800+ |
;) Athlon 64 X2 4600+ |
Both the Energy Efficient Athlon 64 3800+ and Athlon 64 4600+ drop down to 1GHz speeds when Cool-n-Quiet is enabled and there is no load on the CPU. Notice the 4600+ drops its voltage down to about 1v as well, like the 3800+
Temperature And Voltage Monitor - Full Load
;) Athlon 64 X2 3800+ |
;) Athlon 64 X2 4600+ |
At full clock speed and 100% load the new Energy Efficient Athlon 64s show impressive thermal characteristics. The 3800+ still oscillates around the 1v threshold at its core and the 4600+ has now ramped up to 1.15v according to Asus' PC Probe utility. Let's graph the temps for you here and compare them to similar architectures.
Please keep in mind that these core CPU temperatures were recorded on an open air bench test with ambient room temp of about 20oC or 68oF. Processor core temperatures would likely ramp higher in closed chassis environments. Regardless, fully loaded, the new energy efficient Athlon's show excellent thermal characteristics. Incidentally, we tested with a stock all copper Athlon 64 X2 cooler, though AMD supplied us with a lower profile aluminum/copper hybrid cooler, since these lower operating temp ranges require much less exotic cooling solutions.
