Athlon 64 FX-53 & Athlon 64 3800+ Processor Review - Page 11

Benchmark Analysis

The benchmark results were exactly where we anticipated for the Athlon 64 FX-53 939-pin model. The transition to dual-channel unbuffered DDR has come off without a hitch, and even offers the bonus of slightly enhanced performance. The increased latencies of registered DDR put a slight damper on overall memory performance, without any real benefit for desktop systems, and we can finally close that particular chapter. Now that Socket 939 has moved to standard DDR, the Athlon 64 FX-53 is paired with memory that is not only inexpensive and highly available, but is properly tailored for desktop platforms in terms of features and performance.

The Athlon 64 3800+ posted some impressive results, and it may be surprising to many that it surpassed the benchmark scores of the original Athlon 64 FX-53, and came extremely close to matching the performance of the 939-pin Athlon 64 FX-53. After all, the Athlon 64 3800+ may run at the same 2.4 GHz clock speed, but it does have only half the L2 cache of an Athlon 64 FX processor. Then again, this is understandable when you compare the performance numbers of the 2.0 GHz Athlon XP 3000+, a single-channel DDR Newcastle variant with 512K of L2 cache, against that of the similarly-clocked Athlon XP 3200+ with 1-MB L2 cache. In that case, the extra L2 cache only offered a slight performance increase, just as in our Athlon 64 FX-53 vs. Athlon 64 3800+ comparison.

Value

This review may have whetted your appetite for a new Socket 939 system, but keep in mind this is still an enthusiast-based platform and is priced accordingly. The new 939-pin Athlon 64 FX-53 has an 1K-unit quantity price of $799 (no street prices are yet available), while the Athlon 64 3800+ and 3500+ 939-pin models have current street prices of approximately $700 and $500, respectively. The Socket 754 Athlon 64 3700+ is tipping the scale at just under $700, so there are not many mainstream values in this latest crop of AMD64 processors.

These new AMD models are priced according to their overall performance (and are better relative deals than the Pentium 4 Extreme Editions), and for the most part, the model numbers and overall performance seem relatively accurate. Part of the problem is equating these new Athlon 64 939-pin models with hitting near-Athlon 64 FX performance levels, and therefore being priced accordingly.

* Please note that these prices were taken at the time of review and are not meant to reflect long-term trends.

Conclusion

Throughout the review and benchmarking process, one thought kept coming to the fore: Socket 939 is where the Athlon 64 belongs. The flexibility of standard DDR and the power of an integrated dual-channel memory controller make for a potent combination, and the enhanced upgrade possibilities are also great news. The only real issue is the cost of entry, but this is a factor with any high-end platform, and mainstream buyers will still get a lot of value out of Socket 754. Our only wish is that Socket 939 had been here since the introduction of the AMD64 line, but as they say, better late than never.

Athlon 64 3800+ Ratings:

Pros:

• Near-Athlon 64 FX-53 Performance
• Dual-Channel PC3200 DDR
• Socket 939 Flexibility

Cons:

• Expensive

Ratings:

Athlon 64 FX-53 Ratings:

Pros:

• Slightly Higher Performance Relative to Socket 940
• Dual-Channel PC3200 DDR
• No More Registered DDR

Cons:

• Expensive

Ratings: