DH Review: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ & Athlon 64 FX-53 (socket 939) CPUs

Dom · Jun 1, 2004, 05:01 AM

With the NDA just being lifted on AMDâ€™s latest additions to the Athlon 64 processor series. It is with great pleasure that DriverHeaven now present the community with a double review of the 'Athlon 64 3800+' and the 'Athlon 64 FX-53 Go (socket 939)'.

"At Computex today AMD are launching the newest members of their Athlon family, the Athlon64 3800+ and along with it a FX53 with a twist. As it's launch day we have both of the processors in for review, we have spent some considerable time running tests so read on to find out how they compare and whatâ€™s newâ€¦

In terms of comparison to the Socket940 FX-53 the socket 939 FX is almost identical, 200mhz bus with multiplier of 12 giving 2400mhz stock speed and a level 2 cache of 1024kb (1mb). The one big change to the FX line starting with the S939 FX-53 is the memory requirements. Youâ€™ll no longer require ECC/REG memory to run your Athlon64 FXâ€¦normal DDR will work absolutely fine."

-DH Review

No_Style · Jun 1, 2004, 05:54 AM

Good work~!

I like the feature of Enhanced Virus Protection. But, those high temperatures are quite a source of a worry.

MSX · Jun 1, 2004, 08:12 AM

Very interesting.

Asmoday · Jun 1, 2004, 09:47 AM

I wonder how high those cpu's would go with let's say a Mach II

tastyweat · Jun 1, 2004, 11:09 AM

A good review as always Stu and Allan - you guys work well together!

germanjulian · Jun 1, 2004, 01:30 PM

hey guess what only P4 are not laggy! amd processors without HyperThreating are poo. (joke) but read the last page of this review and this is what the author says http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjI2LDY=

Zardon · Jun 1, 2004, 01:37 PM

A quote from that article

"Pricing aside, AMD looks to be producing some of the best performance CPUs we have ever seen. The only hole I can really shoot in their armor is the lack of a HyperThreading-type feature. Now depending on how you use your computer, this may or may not impact your experience. When multitasking, the Pentium4 simply feels smoother to use. You get a seamless experience. Now this is not say that you never feel a lag here or there on a 3.4GHz Pentium4 desktop, but I will assure you there are not many of them. As of writing this, I have 15 windows open on 3 monitors running 8 different applications. If I wanted to, I could also encode a ripped DVD to DivX while I work and never be aware of it for the most part. My experience is that cannot be done on AMD's CPUs."

tastyweat · Jun 1, 2004, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Zardon
A quote from that article

"Pricing aside, AMD looks to be producing some of the best performance CPUs we have ever seen. The only hole I can really shoot in their armor is the lack of a HyperThreading-type feature. Now depending on how you use your computer, this may or may not impact your experience. When multitasking, the Pentium4 simply feels smoother to use. You get a seamless experience. Now this is not say that you never feel a lag here or there on a 3.4GHz Pentium4 desktop, but I will assure you there are not many of them. As of writing this, I have 15 windows open on 3 monitors running 8 different applications. If I wanted to, I could also encode a ripped DVD to DivX while I work and never be aware of it for the most part. My experience is that cannot be done on AMD's CPUs."

from my experience that's just about true - although I haven't used p4 HT machines all too often

Zardon · Jun 1, 2004, 01:52 PM

Well I do agree with multiple apps, hard to beat a HT enabled P4.

tastyweat · Jun 1, 2004, 02:19 PM

yeah - i would love it if they would get some for of Hyperthreading in AMD processors - that would be great - but would also push up the price more - hmm - a socket 939 3800 with hyperthreading would probably be my ideal chip atm!

germanjulian · Jun 1, 2004, 02:52 PM

are you sure? even at those speed HT makes a difference? thats crazy. thank god I am a 4 app man

hamtaro · Jun 1, 2004, 04:30 PM

notice from the CPU-Z screenies that the voltage is @ 1.681V... isn't it supposed to run @ 1.5V?

germanjulian · Jun 1, 2004, 04:45 PM

yup. he propably did the screenies when he was o/c the processor. man these things are way to expensive.

tastyweat · Jun 1, 2004, 05:28 PM

I'm hoping I will be able to get the 3800 for around Â£300 - I really want one - practically new system over the next frew months for me hopefully!!! 1gb ocz 2-2-2-8 ram, iiyama 454pro, a64 3800 939, new mobo, x800xt - wow! I'm really looking forward to the next few months - I just hope some of the deals I'm doing atm don't fall through otherwise I won't be able to get the stuff

Vampyromaniac · Jun 1, 2004, 06:40 PM

Some sites have the memory bandwidth over 6000 in Sandra . . . not bad, 94% bandwidth effiicency
But it seems these A64's don't really need much bandwidth, or cache

**Roadee** · Jun 1, 2004, 10:01 PM

These scores are beyond "sweet".........I can't wait to see what happens when the mother boards for these CPU's mature

It just sucks that I have to wait for about 6 months for everything to get the quirks worked out and the speeds and stability up to snuff and on the "working class" side of the price spectrum.

But until then I am going to love to see all the reviews and benchmarks a flowing!!

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jun 2, 2004, 09:00 AM

BiGBrOwNPimpsta · Jun 2, 2004, 03:51 PM

crap, those processors are scary

i really wish i was back with AMD

Zardon · Jun 2, 2004, 04:18 PM

Id like an EE.

MythicaL · Jun 2, 2004, 05:37 PM

Eh, I'd still rather have an AMD over a P4 anyday though...

GutterPunk · Jun 2, 2004, 06:55 PM

drooooooooooooool.... come on itll take me 3 years to save up the money for the processor alone

Zazzybud · Jun 4, 2004, 09:19 PM

Quote:

A quote from that article

"Pricing aside, AMD looks to be producing some of the best performance CPUs we have ever seen. The only hole I can really shoot in their armor is the lack of a HyperThreading-type feature. Now depending on how you use your computer, this may or may not impact your experience. When multitasking, the Pentium4 simply feels smoother to use. You get a seamless experience. Now this is not say that you never feel a lag here or there on a 3.4GHz Pentium4 desktop, but I will assure you there are not many of them. As of writing this, I have 15 windows open on 3 monitors running 8 different applications. If I wanted to, I could also encode a ripped DVD to DivX while I work and never be aware of it for the most part. My experience is that cannot be done on AMD's CPUs."

I'd seriously question that. Now taking for granted I only run 1 monitor, but I resently just starting helping friends back up thier movie collections. I've converted DVD -> Divx (Xvid) and Xvid or DVD -> VCD. Also while watching videos/dvds in my collection or surfing the net. Heck I've even streamed the anime from Winamp 5's online TV streams 500k + and my lil Barton keeps the pace. I've had this little guy flying before and still manage to fold for Rage3d all the time !

I have no clue what apps Hard's running though. What could you possibly do with 15 apps open at one time. Thats like trying to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time!

Oh and all I have is a Barton 2500 stock w/ 512MB ram.

BWX · Jun 5, 2004, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Zazzybud
I'd seriously question that. Now ...........

Oh and all I have is a Barton 2500 stock w/ 512MB ram.

I do to- Sheesh- I can't even slow down my 2.2ghz Tbred- I've had 15-20 windows open with PS7, p2p, GBA emulator, etc going; no slowdowns. I don't think hyper-threading does hardly anything in the windows environment when the CPU's are going that fast anyway. The rest of the system has something to do with it too.

Jun 1, 2004, 05:01 AM	#1
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	DH Review: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ & Athlon 64 FX-53 (socket 939) CPUs With the NDA just being lifted on AMDâ€™s latest additions to the Athlon 64 processor series. It is with great pleasure that DriverHeaven now present the community with a double review of the 'Athlon 64 3800+' and the 'Athlon 64 FX-53 Go (socket 939)'. "At Computex today AMD are launching the newest members of their Athlon family, the Athlon64 3800+ and along with it a FX53 with a twist. As it's launch day we have both of the processors in for review, we have spent some considerable time running tests so read on to find out how they compare and whatâ€™s newâ€¦ In terms of comparison to the Socket940 FX-53 the socket 939 FX is almost identical, 200mhz bus with multiplier of 12 giving 2400mhz stock speed and a level 2 cache of 1024kb (1mb). The one big change to the FX line starting with the S939 FX-53 is the memory requirements. Youâ€™ll no longer require ECC/REG memory to run your Athlon64 FXâ€¦normal DDR will work absolutely fine." -DH Review

Jun 1, 2004, 05:54 AM	#2
No_Style Styleless Wonder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 6,034 Rep Power: 0	Nice review Good work~! I like the feature of Enhanced Virus Protection. But, those high temperatures are quite a source of a worry. __________________ "The Best Style Is No Style" Specifications Here

Jun 1, 2004, 09:47 AM	#4
Asmoday Demonic Join Date: May 2002 Location: In the cold, dark north... Posts: 5,198 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	I wonder how high those cpu's would go with let's say a Mach II __________________ How You can help Hardwareheaven by using Digg

Jun 1, 2004, 11:09 AM	#5
tastyweat Lurking Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The void Posts: 4,794 Rep Power: 75 System Specs	A good review as always Stu and Allan - you guys work well together! __________________

Jun 1, 2004, 01:30 PM	#6
germanjulian Back in London Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London Posts: 1,797 Rep Power: 0	hey guess what only P4 are not laggy! amd processors without HyperThreating are poo. (joke) but read the last page of this review and this is what the author says http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjI2LDY= __________________ /\|\ Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Intel C2D E6600, 2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C4 DDR2, E-VGA GeForce 7800 GT, Creative X-Fi Extreme Music, 500GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA, Lian Li PC-V1100 Aluminum Case Black, etc. http://germanjulian.com /\|\

Jun 1, 2004, 08:12 AM	#3
MSX Burning the frozen... Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,201 Rep Power: 0	Very interesting.

Jun 1, 2004, 01:37 PM	#7
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	A quote from that article "Pricing aside, AMD looks to be producing some of the best performance CPUs we have ever seen. The only hole I can really shoot in their armor is the lack of a HyperThreading-type feature. Now depending on how you use your computer, this may or may not impact your experience. When multitasking, the Pentium4 simply feels smoother to use. You get a seamless experience. Now this is not say that you never feel a lag here or there on a 3.4GHz Pentium4 desktop, but I will assure you there are not many of them. As of writing this, I have 15 windows open on 3 monitors running 8 different applications. If I wanted to, I could also encode a ripped DVD to DivX while I work and never be aware of it for the most part. My experience is that cannot be done on AMD's CPUs."

Jun 1, 2004, 01:52 PM	#9
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Well I do agree with multiple apps, hard to beat a HT enabled P4.

Jun 1, 2004, 02:19 PM	#10
tastyweat Lurking Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The void Posts: 4,794 Rep Power: 75 System Specs	yeah - i would love it if they would get some for of Hyperthreading in AMD processors - that would be great - but would also push up the price more - hmm - a socket 939 3800 with hyperthreading would probably be my ideal chip atm! __________________

Jun 1, 2004, 02:52 PM	#11
germanjulian Back in London Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London Posts: 1,797 Rep Power: 0	are you sure? even at those speed HT makes a difference? thats crazy. thank god I am a 4 app man __________________ /\|\ Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Intel C2D E6600, 2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C4 DDR2, E-VGA GeForce 7800 GT, Creative X-Fi Extreme Music, 500GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA, Lian Li PC-V1100 Aluminum Case Black, etc. http://germanjulian.com /\|\

Jun 1, 2004, 04:30 PM	#12
hamtaro DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	notice from the CPU-Z screenies that the voltage is @ 1.681V... isn't it supposed to run @ 1.5V?

Jun 1, 2004, 04:45 PM	#13
germanjulian Back in London Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London Posts: 1,797 Rep Power: 0	yup. he propably did the screenies when he was o/c the processor. man these things are way to expensive. __________________ /\|\ Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Intel C2D E6600, 2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C4 DDR2, E-VGA GeForce 7800 GT, Creative X-Fi Extreme Music, 500GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA, Lian Li PC-V1100 Aluminum Case Black, etc. http://germanjulian.com /\|\

Jun 1, 2004, 05:28 PM	#14
tastyweat Lurking Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The void Posts: 4,794 Rep Power: 75 System Specs	I'm hoping I will be able to get the 3800 for around Â£300 - I really want one - practically new system over the next frew months for me hopefully!!! 1gb ocz 2-2-2-8 ram, iiyama 454pro, a64 3800 939, new mobo, x800xt - wow! I'm really looking forward to the next few months - I just hope some of the deals I'm doing atm don't fall through otherwise I won't be able to get the stuff __________________

Jun 1, 2004, 06:40 PM	#15
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 77 System Specs	Some sites have the memory bandwidth over 6000 in Sandra . . . not bad, 94% bandwidth effiicency But it seems these A64's don't really need much bandwidth, or cache __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Jun 1, 2004, 10:01 PM	#16
Roadee Never forgotten Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Rest In peace, Joe. Posts: 2,198 Rep Power: 69	These scores are beyond "sweet".........I can't wait to see what happens when the mother boards for these CPU's mature It just sucks that I have to wait for about 6 months for everything to get the quirks worked out and the speeds and stability up to snuff and on the "working class" side of the price spectrum. But until then I am going to love to see all the reviews and benchmarks a flowing!! __________________ We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.

Jun 2, 2004, 03:51 PM	#18
BiGBrOwNPimpsta HH's #1 Hustla and Pimp Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: The Dirty Dot Posts: 7,717 Rep Power: 107 System Specs	crap, those processors are scary i really wish i was back with AMD __________________ Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music \| Logitech Z-5500 THX 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers \| 2 Lite-On 20x S-ATA Burners \| Logitech G700 Mouse \| Logitech MX5500 Bluetooth Keyboard

Jun 2, 2004, 06:55 PM	#21
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	drooooooooooooool.... come on itll take me 3 years to save up the money for the processor alone __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Jun 2, 2004, 09:00 AM	#17
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	__________________

Jun 2, 2004, 04:18 PM	#19
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Id like an EE.

Jun 2, 2004, 05:37 PM	#20
MythicaL I like computers. Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: In front of a monitor Posts: 3,399 Rep Power: 89 System Specs	Eh, I'd still rather have an AMD over a P4 anyday though... __________________ Always knew I didn't belong in this world. I wasn't made for this. But I'll never forget those who betrayed me, and those who never failed my trust.