Sempron 3100 or Athlon 64

[stevechurch]

I'm looking to build a new PC to replace an ageing K6. Things have moved on a bit since I built my last PC (Athlon 1.33GHz). I've since discovered the Athlon 64 and now the Sempron. I'm not sure how they all compare but I've found out that the Sempron 3100+ is a better CPU than the lower speed Semprons. Can someone explain how the Athlon XP, Athlon 64 and Sempron 3100+ compare. I''m planning to use this for a 'family' PC. It will be used mainly for internet access (broadband) and digital camera work. It won't be used for playing games (well, not many) as the kids have gone off to uni. I need something up to date that will last three or four years.

I was planning on using a 3000+ processor, first an Athlon XP, then heard about the Athlon 64s, then the Sempron 3100+. Will the Athlon 64 only come into it's own when 64 bit applications and operating systems come on line? I don't want to spend megabucks on this nor do I want a low end machine. I realise that higher spec'ed CPUs demand higher priced motherboards (which may well generate another question when I have to chose one!).

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Justin]

Sure thing.

There are seven basic chips for Socket 462 (A). They are:

Duron (classic)
Duron Applebred
Athlon
Athlon Thunderbird
Athlon XP
Athlon XP Barton
Sempron

And there are four basic chips for sockets 754 and 939:
Sempron
Athlon 64
Athlon 64 FX
Opteron

The sempron is the only CPU that exists for both the old and the new socket. The sempron is, in essence, is AMDs answer to the Intel Celeron. It is a lower priced chip that, even though it is on the 64bit socket, is still a 32bit chip. It lacks greatly in performance as compared to an Athlon 64, but is intended to be a entry-level CPU.

The Socket A sempron is the same core as an Athlon XP Thouroughbred, with 256kb L2 cache. The primary difference is that the FSB of the cpu has been upped to 166mhz from 133mhz. All TBred's are designed to run on 133mhz fsb (There are two exceptions, but they are of no particular note, one was never released), and the Semprons are designed to run on 166mhz FSB.

So in short:


Sempron = Competetion for the celeron, 166mhz FSB for Socket A, 32-bit for 754/939 sockets


I cannot remember if there will be any semprons for the 754 socket, if someone can please refresh my memory.

Hope this helps.

 

[Didou]

I cannot remember if there will be any semprons for the 754 socket, if someone can please refresh my memory.

The 3100+ Sempron is on the Socket-754. It runs at 1.8GHz & has 256kb of L2 cache. The only difference between it & the Athlon64 2800+ is less cache (256 vs. 512) & the lack of AMD64. Both run at 1.8GHz.

 

[slavster]

i think that you would be a lot happier with an athlon 64 because of its 64 bit family. i know for sure that you would benefit from investing in a 64bit processor since the new programs and os's that will be commin out will be based and will run a lot better in a 64 bit mode. on second place, i would put the athlon xp because of its barton core and 512kb L2 cache. last but not least the sempron. i think that the sempron is the cheapest of all ( i am not exaclty sure about the prices now), but trust me when i say this: you will love the 64...