Tuesday, January 25, 2000

Introduction

For quite a while now, I've been eager to present, and review motherboards based around AMD's Athlon processor, but, circumstances arose, and I'm thus among the last to present my analysis of these boards and processors. On the other hand, I have been able to take some advantage of our time lag, in obtaining the most recent of AMD's offerings: the 800Mhz Athlon. So then, as everything to be said about the Athlon has already been said, there remains now only to analyze it, its respective boards, and to add the appropriate remarks. Thus, for the first time ever, the following analysis will combine our introduction of the AMD Athlon 800Mhz, with the analysis of the Gigabyte GA-71X motherboard.

The AMD Athlon 800Mhz

First off, the sample that I have on-hand is labeled "Engineering Sample", and could possibly contain a few differences from those units to be launched on the market soon. What is most striking about this processor is its dimensions. As with the PII, and PIII from Intel, the Athlon is equipped both with a heat sink, and fan. What sets the Athlon apart, is the sheer size of these elements. In effect, the Athlon's cooling components dwarf the Intel processors, and their systems. To put it in perspective, the Athlon 800Mhz that I have in-hand, combined with it's heat sink, and fan, nearly matches in size a PIII mounted ontop of an Alpha P3125...

Asides from that peculiarity, not much distinguishes the Athlon 800Mhz from other Athlon processors. All things being equal, the Athlon 800Mhz is essentially an Athlon 750Mhz, with a higher clock frequency.

Much like the Athlon 750Mhz, the Athlon 800Mhz uses to set its L2 cache speed at 2/5 that of the processor, or, if you prefer, to 325Mhz - as stated on the label afixed to the processor. For all intents, the Athlon 700Mhz seems to have been the last of the bunch to be able to implement an L2 cache of 1/2 processor speed. The problem stems from the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find affordable memory capable of operating at such high speeds. Eventually, the solution will be to imbed the L2 cache directly on-die, thus cutting it loose from the dependency of the memory manufacturers, and simultaneously enhancing the speed of the L2 cache. That said, AMD is not expected to release a CPU with an on-die L2 cache until the second half of 2000.

Another feature of the Athlon 800Mhz, is its use of the K75 core manufactured on a 0.18 micron process.

Thus, the Athlon 800Mhz is the second AMD processor, after the 750Mhz, to benefit from the 0.18 micron manufacturing process. The K75 core, for its part, is quite similar to the K7 core, only slightly smaller due to the smaller manufacturing process. In all practical terms, the miniaturization of the Athlon's core has reduced the heat dissipation of the CPU to 39Watts.

Finally, another feature that characterizes the Athlon 800Mhz, reflects its increased number of "reorder buffer" instructions; having been 72 with the 750Mhz, they now number 78 with the 800Mhz. This translates into increased performance in the Athlon's ability to reorganize out-of-order instructions. And there you have it; that sums up what distinguishes the Athlon 800Mhz, from the rest of the Athlon family!

The Gigabyte GA-71X motherboard

Gigabyte was among the first 3 motherboard manufacturers to market a board specifically designed for the Athlon, and for that we give them a thumbs up. While the grand majority of other manufacturers waited, or are still waiting, before presenting an Athlon board, Gigabyte broke away from the crowd, and jumped into the AMD Athlon's wagon. It's well known by all, at this point, that the majority of manufacturers scared stiff of Intel, and preferred to prostate themselves before the chip giant, rather than offer an Athlon motherboard. It's the only reason that manufacturers have waited (as some still do...) before releasing Athlon motherboards. As this isn't the case with Gigabyte, we must give them high credit for having the audacity, and the courage to press forward, as it's only by their example that others have followed into the market. That said, let's say we take a look at what the Gigabyte GA-71X Athlon motherboard has to offer.

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