Duron, Athlon, and a moron

[dunbar]

The AMD naming progression is unfamiliar to me, and I'm now shopping for a new mobo, so I have to know what is old and what is new in the AMD lineup. I need a link or basic explanation regarding the AMD lineup.

Intel *clearly* ruled the CPU market when I purchased my PII mobo, not so today, so I'd hate to buy yesterdays AMD CPU and start out with old stuff.

While yer at it, what is the diff between Athlon, Athlon MP, Athlon T-bird, and Athlon XP?

I also wonder about the Via CPUs, but since I want Linux on the new mobo, I suspect Vias chips might make a difficult situation worse.... AMD seems to have a good reputation amongst the penguins, but I don't hear much about the Via stuff.

[mad1]

AMD

[krohnjw]

The Athlon MP is a multi processor based on the morgan core, the Athlon t-bird was the top dog until the Athlon XP, which now competes with the Pentium 4. The duron is a budget chip along the lines of the celeron, but without near the performance loss the celery has. The Duron is the budget chip in the T-bird timeline.

[BobViper]

ALOHA
Anything with XP in is the latest and Greatest!

The higher the number the better.

And don't forget DDR ram,more new stuff.

ALOHA

[Bob The Great]

AMD Duron=Value CPU. It has two cores. Spitfire 600Mhz-1Ghz and Morgan 1Ghz-1.3Ghz. The morgan core offers great features (most notably SSE optimization just like the P3). The Duron line offers great overclocking potential at a great price! They use a 200Mhz FSB (They almost always can be safely oc'ed to 266Mhz, or 133x2 as the FSB you put in is multplied by 2 to get the 266Mhz). Even though these are "value CPU's" my Duron 1Ghz Morgan core oc'ed to 1.13Ghz can beat the slower P4's.

Athlon-Comes in 2 flavours now. The 200Mhz FSB and 266Mhz FSb. I won't tell you about the 200mhz ones since you don't really need to know as they are usually more expensive then the 266Mhz ones so you don't want to by them. I told you know to look for the FSB and get the higher one. The 266Mhz FSB Athlon (effectinatly called the Thunderbird or T-Bird) is one mean kitty! It can woop up on the whole P3 line, and give P4's a nasty fright. These chips used to be the high end ones. but they were replaced by the AthlonXP's. They never made it higher the 1.4Ghz too.

AthlonXP- This is AMD's current flagship CPU! These things rock! They come with SSE optimizations, and a 266Mhz FSB! With the XP line AMD started the PR rating for their CPU's. This shows (a very conservitive view) of what speed CPU they can be compaired too. Take the Athlon XP 1700+. It runs at 1.47Ghz, but it can beat the P4 1.7Ghz in almost all tests, and beat the 1.8Ghz in a lot of tests! They run from 1500+ (1.33Ghz) - the new AthlonXP 2200+ (1.8Gh) that is coming out June 10th

Athlon MP- The Athlon MP is AMDs server chip. I actually haven't realyl researched them. Presumably they have a higher cache then the normal XPs. I belive they are based of the XP (the new ones at least), and they have the same PR rating ranging from 1500+ to 2000+

Hope this helps!

please correct me on any points I've left out or gotten wrong. I'm fairly sure I got it all, but I'm kinda tired right now and I don't want to spread miss information

[dunbar]

Originally posted by Bob The Great
Athlon-Comes in 2 flavours now. The 200Mhz FSB and 266Mhz FSb. I won't tell you about the 200mhz ones since you don't really need to know as they are usually more expensive then the 266Mhz ones so you don't want to by them. I told you know to look for the FSB and get the higher one. The 266Mhz FSB Athlon (effectinatly called the Thunderbird or T-Bird) is one mean kitty!

Think I got it, but check me on this: the Thunderbird term applies only to the 266 FSB Athlon CPU?

Also, whenever I read the word T-bird, I'm actually reading about an Athlon Thunderbird 266 CPU?

(BTW, AMD site not responding to me..... is it June 10 already??)

[krohnjw]

Well, the Thunderbird comes in the 200Mhz FSB and 266 Mhz FSB flavors, so just check the FSB if that is what you end up buying

[Richard Cranium]

To add even more confusion, or mud to the water, don't forget about the Athlon Slot A processors, wanna make sure you don't accidentally get a Slot A when you have a Socket A mobo.

The T-Bird comes in 3 flavors
1. Slot-A
2. Socket A 200mhz FSB
3. Socket A 266mhz FSB

Better now ? )

[dunbar]

Thanks RC. Slot A vs Socket A is not an issue for me, but other readers will benefit.
I already knew enough AMD info to understand about matching mobo socket/slot to CPU package.
Even Intel does that: Celeron and PIII both come in 2 styles. Guess which style mobo I bought last time.... the Slot 1. No, I do not want to buy an adaptor since the current mobo flakes out randomly, and it definitely has the current VIA chipset bus parking problem.

[dunbar]

Sure wish AMD's site would work for me.....