Sempron 64 2600+

[g-dogg]

So, lately i have been looking for an upgrade to my PIII 667. I am a high school student and i am very poor. So i decided to go for something on a real tight budget (200-250) with my exsisting case, hdds, and cdrom, i went on to newegg.com. there i found 2 budget cpus for intel and amd, celery D and sempron with 64 bit extension. after a bit of research on both, i found alot about the celry D, but nothing about this sempron 64. So wanting the 64 bit extension,SSE3 and new 90nm technology, i bought the sempron. btw this was my first amd, so according to the amd ratings (2600+) i assumed that it would be as fast as a 2.6 ghz celery, and in fact it was. Then after looking around and knowing that the sempron 64's come with a E6 venice core that is based on the 90nm technology, i couldnt help my self but overclock this thing. I am a noob at overclocking and this was my first time but the results were amazing, the first real overclock i got easily (with stock core and heatsink) was around 1700, then 1800, then 2000, and i though i maxed out at 2066. But then i found out that i need to change the HTT to 3x from 4X, and so i did as soon as i did i got 2400 mhz (300X8), then 2560 mhz (320X8) (which was the max fsb of my motherboard,if it werent for that i would have probably gone much higher) all that with a minor increase in vcore to 1.45 from 1.4 all that with stock cooling(didnt even change the thermal pad they gave me). I can tell you this is one of the best budget cpu's you will ever buy and easiest to overclock (if you are into gaming its awsome when overclocked). Since all the new cpus that came out by amd are based on the E6 venice core all the way up to the 3800+ (2.4ghz), the only diffrence right now between my cpu @2.56 and the 3800+ is the 512kb cache. One thing to say though this cpu at stock is really good for office need or just surfing the web and normal everyday use, but not as good at gaming, if you want gaming and dont like or feel comfortable overclocking look at the higher clocked cpus of this sempron (like the 3100+ or 3400+). overall this is a great cpu with 64bit extensions, SSE3, great overclocking capablities,cheap, runs really cool (38C-45C).at last i can say i am very very satisfied with my purchase, I hope my review helped anyone out there uncertain of buying this cpu.
Oh, btw this processor will work with any 754socket motherboard that supports 200mhz fsb and a bios update.

Peace out
G-dogg

[Tin]

Excellent OC on that bad boy. I havent been able to get my board that high yet due to the crappy stock southbridge cooler, but I will be there soon enough. I pass the HTT/FSB crown on to you .

[tterrag46]

That's one heck of an OC. Are you using the stock cooler?

[g-dogg]

Thanks, Tin I feel really proud with my oc, just wish i had a dfi, i could have pushed that thing even more, i mean i belive i have a really good chip.
tterrag46, yes i am using the stock cooler because i only increased a .05v so it doesnt hurt much, at full load doing prime95 i the highest i have got was 54C(according to MBM5, but when i restart and get to the bios it says 42C, so i still dont think its really running hot or anything), but heck i am not going to be doing prime everyday. idels around 38-40C(confirmed both by bios and mbm).

oops almost forgot to mension, i have like 4 fans running in my case besides the one on the cpu, so i have pretty good air circulation in the case (real important for ocing)

[Tin]

If you ever wanted to beef up your system, you could get a DFI board and a Turion mobile CPU. They do about 3GHz on good air cooling. Theyre a Socket 754 San Diego for the most part.

[g-dogg]

with a 2.56 ghz 320fsb, that plenty for me right now. but will keep that mobile in mind when upgrading!

[inflames988]

dang g-dogg. nice review,lots of good info. i didnt know much about the semprons so i took a look at your thread. crazy overclocking too. cant believe you pulled it off on a stock HSF. Nice! How hot is the CPU, do u know? just out of curiosit.y

[g-dogg]

I cant really give an exact number since the motherboard cant display temps in windows but from experimenting around i would say 39-40 C idle and 45-46C tops under load all that with only .05v increase in voltage, btw i can get into windows fine and use the computer benchmark and all using stock voltage but just to fully stablize it i gave it the .05v increase.