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And the company has named two big OEMs - HP in the US, and Fujitsu Siemens in Europe - as customers, writes Drew Cullen.
The Athlon XP 2200+ is based on 0.13 micron manufacturing technology -- which means smaller die size, lower power consumption and better performance. It costs USD241 in batches of 1,000. This is the same as the Intel P 4/2266 which cost also costs USD241. But it is important to note that AMD's list prices are typically discounted more heavily on the street than Intel's.
As for processor speed (as opposed to performance rating), the 2200+ clocks in at 1800MHz, compared with the 1733 MHz for 2100+ with the Palomino core.
So Intel is racing away with the lead on the clock speed front, with its fastest desktop CPU clocking 2.53GHz. However this costs a hefty USD637 in OEM quantities, so it is not exactly mass market pricing yet. As AMD points out, correctly, megahertz no longer gives a linear indication of performance. AMD argues that Intel's P4 design is inherently less efficient in than the Pentium III - to the tune of 25 percent, or so.
OK, we'll take this argument on board and move onto the next question: how good is the new AMD Thoroughbred?
Tom's Hardware Guide (THG) has put the chip through its paces, with an exhaustive review, comparing Thoroughbred with Palomino and containing some info about the upcoming Barton core, which will have 512K cache. In 32 tests, AMD outstripped the Intel Pentium 4/2533 in only two.
Of course, it is much cheaper. As THG points out, AMD "still has a better price/performance ratio if you're less concerned with getting the absolute top performance. In this case, the true benchmark freaks will want to stick with a P4 system based on PC1066. The T-bred will not give you the a big performance boost, and we did not expect it to, because ultimately, the CPU core has not been changed."
"Still, it's going to be exciting, because the arrival of the Barton, with its larger L2 cache, is imminent. And VIA is working on the KT400 chipset, which is supposed to bring DDR 400 with 200 MHz to the Socket 462 platform. Thus, the race has not yet come to an end -- the means are ultimately the goal!"
The Register and its contents are copyright 2002 Situation Publishing. Reprinted with permission.
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