AMD Athlon XP 2000+, A Virtual Milestone!

Author : Wayne Date : 7th January 2002

3DVelocity would like to thank AMD and especially Theresa Zimmer for their help and courtesy in providing this processor for review.

 

 

A look at the processor - Cont. :

As expected, the L2 cache is still located on the underside of the processor. In fact the specs for this new CPU mirror those of earlier XPs being a 0.18 micron core using copper interconnects, and like the other XP's you need to make sure your cooling is up to spec before you power her up. The cooler supplied to us by AMD was the Speeze 5T208B1H3T though most high quality units from the likes of Swiftech, Akasa and so on should suffice. If you're in any doubt, I strongly suggest you take a look at AMD's recommended coolers HERE.

Although it goes without saying, the XP2000+ maintains compatibility with socketA (Socket 462) motherboards, though you may need to check with your board's manufacturer to make certain it can run the 2000+, or more importantly to find out if you need a BIOS update to detect it properly. At the time of writing, the following boards are know to have been validated for use with the XP 2000+ :

Gigabyte GA-7VTXE v1.1 VIA (KT266A)
MSI MS-6330 v5.0a (VIA KT133A)
MSI MS-6380 v2.0c (VIA KT266A)
Epox 8KHA+ v2.0 (VIA KT266A)

 

 

 

 

 

This is the first XP core I've seen using the "AGNGA" stepping. The core size remains unchanged at 128mm2.

 

Okay, so that's the externals of the processor taken care of, now let's take a quick refresher on the technology that powers it.

Page 3- Technology Overview