AMD64 3200+ Venice S939

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by Rob Williams on May 24, 2005 in Processors

AMD has had their share of new CPU releases lately, and more are coming. Recently, they released the Venice and San Diego chips, with a 90nm core, added SSE3 support, and has superb overclocking potential. They also use less power, which means lower temps! Read on as I put the Venice 3200+ through a slew of benchmarks.

Page 5 – PC Mark, Conclusion

The previous tests all focus primarily on mathematical equations, and this is why the percentages or increase are always so close. Getting into the CPUBench 2003 and PC Mark 2004 tests, they will fluctuate moreso with each test. Even so, CPUBench gave us a 35.1% performance increase with our overclock, and PC Mark 2004 gave us a 30.7% increase.

One thing that I am very impressed with, is the low temperatures with the CPU during all tests. The computer is in a room with a high ambient temperature.. moreso than it should be. Therefore, temperatures usually end up being higher, especially when equipped with only the stock cooler. Either way, the CPU hardly rose above 48ºC, and maxed at 54ºC after running Prime95 for an hour. In a normal ambient temperature, and using a good CPU cooler, 40ºC and lower should be achieved easily.

Conclusion

In the end, it’s hard to not recommend a Venice core AMD64. Even with generic memory and a stock cooler, I was easily able to achieve a 35% performance increase with my overclock. With a good cooler and performance memory, I am sure that 2.8GHz to 3.0GHz could be hit. There have even been rumors of some water cooled 3200+’s hitting 3.1GHz and 3.2GHz.

If you are a performance fiend though, the San Diegos are targetted at the hardcore gamer crowd. The Sandy will be available in the 3700+, 4000+ and FX-57 form. With the X2 (Dual Core) chips being released within two weeks, you may want to hold out to see the performance results of them. However, Dual Core will not likely affect gamers.. for now. They will however benefit Multi-Media workstations, such as video editing and 3D Graphics design. They will also be much more expensive than Venice core.

Considering you can achieve 2.7GHz quite easily with the Venice, adding to the fact that it also falls just under $200US over at Newegg, this is certainly a great value as well. It’s also only $8 – $10 more than the Winnie core. If you are building a new system, then check it out. If you already are using a 3200+ Winchester or close to it, you may want to hold off, unless the better overclocking and lower temps are worth it. Otherwise, wait until X2 and San Diego benchmarks are numerous, then make a decision.

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Rob Williams

Rob founded Techgage in 2005 to be an 'Advocate of the consumer', focusing on fair reviews and keeping people apprised of news in the tech world. Catering to both enthusiasts and businesses alike; from desktop gaming to professional workstations, and all the supporting software.

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