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Information
on AMD Processors
See
our new page on AMD here. It replaces this older page
Latest
Sept 25, 2003: Make
sense of all the new AMD 64 bit processors - read our concise
guide
Why
confuse me - what's the difference between all these processors?
The
K6-3, and K6-2 are all 3D processors. They are based on the Zif
socket 7 design. The Athlon "Thunderbird" (K7) &
"Duron" processors are a different shape. They need a "Socket A" type motherboard.
("Slot" A is the older shape for the Athlon and has now
been replaced by the Socket A). The Athlon XP processors released
in 2001 are numbered differently i.e. XP 2000+ is actually a 1.6
GHz. According to AMD the XP 2000+ suggests what speed of Pentium 4
will give you the same speed. The Opteron is a 64 bit processor
originally designed more for workstations than PCs. more
Can
I buy a computer that has the ability to take all types of
processors?
They
do not exist. All motherboards that take the AMD Athlon range of
processors can't take the Intel processors, and vice-versa.
So
how do I decide which motherboard to base my selection on so that
I can upgrade in the future?
If
upgradeability is important our advice would be to go for the
Athlon or the Duron (Socket A). The AMD K6 processors are cheaper
but the motherboards that they come on can't be upgraded to Athlon
or Duron.
So
which one is faster?
Not
an easy answer. Athlons are available in higher speeds (well over
1000+ MHz are currently available) but the K6 range
currently go upto only K6-2, 550 MHz. The new range of Duron
processors from AMD are targeted at the budget end of the market
and will probably replace the K6 eventually.
How
do I decide which one to go for?
The
Duron range of processors are targeted at the budget end of the
market, and these computers tend to be a lot cheaper than the
Athlon/Thunderbird/Athlon XP based computers.
That
still doesn't answer my question - how do I know whether I need a
Duron or Athlon XP computer to run my applications?
Both
processors are designed to run all types of general application,
office software, games etc. Essentially, it does boil down to
budget: Duron if you are on a tight budget, or Athlon if you
can spend that little bit more. The advice from the PC
magazines tends to be
that you should concentrate less on the processor itself and look
at the overall specifications of the PC. The type of motherboard,
amount and quality of RAM, size and speed of the hard disk all
contribute more to performance than the processor itself. The size
and quality of the monitor and the quality of the keyboard and
mouse also tend to be important considerations. continue
to the products>>
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