AMD Sempron 3300+ Processor Review - Page 10

Benchmark Analysis

The overall benchmark results proceeded as expected on most counts, and it was hardly a surprise to see the Sempron 3300+ outperform the Celeron 340, as the Sempron 3100+ had already done the same to the Celeron 335. We were a bit surprised at how well the newest Sempron performed against "higher-end" processors like the Athlon 64 3000+ and 3200+ (939-pin) and the Pentium 4-2.8E and 3.0E Prescott models. The 2.0 GHz clock speed does seem to pay off nice performance dividends, and ensures that the lower 128K of L2 cache is not as much of a consideration. This is far different than the Celeron/Pentium 4 relationship, and it does seem that the Palermo core fares much better at 128K L2 than does the Celeron D.

Value

The Sempron 3300+ has still not hit the mass market, and we are unable to locate a retail priced model at this time. Of course, AMD has given us a $127 per 1K unit price for the Sempron 3300+, which we can use to estimate retail pricing. The Sempron 3100+ has a 1KU price of $114, and a retail price at approximately the same level. The same goes for the Socket 754 Sempron 3000+ and 2800+, so it's safe to assume a retail price of $127 or slightly higher for the Sempron 3300+.

This would place it slightly more expensive than the Celeron 340 ($115) and Sempron 3100+ ($108), but without any real comparison on the Athlon 64 side. The Athlon 64 2800+ ($96) is priced a bit lower, but once we get into the Socket 939 area and the Athlon 64 3000+ ($145) and 3200+ ($170), prices jump considerably. In a pure price-performance context, overall value is quite high for the Sempron 3300+, with its only knock being the less-upgradeable Socket 754 platform. Socket 754 also does not have an integrated graphics platform on-par with the nForce2, which does hurt its acceptance as an entry-level solution.

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

Conclusion

The AMD Sempron 3300+ is a superb entry-level processor option, as it supplies excellent performance for the class and has a relatively low retail price. These two factors usually spell an excellent value, and there's no question the Sempron 3300+ is a welcome addition to the AMD value processor line. The timing is a question mark, since the price of the lower-speed Athlon 64 2800+ and 3000+ models have also dropped into the value market, and a 2.0 GHz Sempron would have made a more compelling case in late-2004. AMD is also at the mercy of their 3rd-party chipset partners, as there is no integrated chipset for Socket 754 to fill the nForce2 gaming void. Even so, we're still high on the 754-pin Sempron 3300+ for low-cost systems, especially now that it features a 90nm Palermo core with SSE3 support.

Pros:

• Top Performer for Value CPUs
• Attractive Price
• Socket 754 Platform & Features

Cons:

• 128K L2 Cache
• Lack of nForce2-level Chipset for Socket 754
• Competes with Athlon 64 2800+ & 3000+

Ratings: