Athlon xp vs sempron: Sempron vs. Athlon XP — Hardware Secrets

Sempron vs. Athlon XP — Hardware Secrets

What is the difference between Sempron and Athlon XP processors? Learn in this tutorial. Includes tables with specs of all Sempron and Athlon XP models.

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Since the day Sempron CPU from AMD was released one of the most frequently asked question is “afterall, what is the difference between Sempron and Athlon XP?”

Sempron is a slower Athlon XP (the exception goes to the Sempron socket 754 versions, which are an Athlon 64 with less L2 memory cache; these models use socket 754 pinout, thus requiring motherboards originally developed to Athlon 64, having a greater performance then socket 462 models). Originally Sempron socket 754 didn’t have the 64-bit extensions available on Athlon 64, but since July, 2005, AMD introduced the 64-bit instructions on these processors. So, the socket 754 Semprons listed below can be found with or without the 64-bit extensions.  The models with 64-bit extensions enabled have the letters “BX” as the two last letters printed on the CPU package.

The difference in performance between Sempron and Athlon XP occurs due to the numbering system used to designate the processor’s speed, which is differente for each processor. A Sempron 3000+ isn’t faster than an Athlon XP 2800+, even though it has a greater number. The processor numbers can only be used to compare CPUs in the same product line, i.e., you can only compare Sempron to Sempron and Athlon XP to Athlon XP.

To fully understand this issue, take a look at the tables below. As you can see, a Sempron 2800+ is slower than an Athlon XP 2600+ 333 and a Sempron 2600+ is slower than an Athlon XP 2500+. To make the comparison, you have to watch the internal clock, the external clock and the L2 memory cache size.

This naming scheme used by AMD is really confusing. As you can see there are three Athlon XP 2600+ models with completely different technical specs, even though they use the same name.

Processor Internal Clock External Clock L2 Memory Cache Socket
Sempron 2200+ 1. 50 GHz 333 MHz 256 KB 462
Sempron 2300+ 1.58 GHz 333 MHz 256 KB 462
Sempron 2400+ 1.67 GHz 333 MHz 256 KB 462
Sempron 2500+ 1.70 GHz 333 MHz 256 KB 462
Sempron 2600+ 183 GHz 333 MHz 256 KB 462
Sempron 2800+ 2 GHz 333 MHz 256 KB 462
Sempron 3000+ 2 GHz 333 MHz 512 KB 462

Processor Internal Clock HyperTransport L2 Memory Cache Socket
Sempron 2500+ 1.40 GHz 800 MHz 128 KB 754
Sempron 2600+ 1.60 GHz 800 MHz 128 KB 754
Sempron 2800+ 1. 60 GHz 800 MHz 256 KB 754
Sempron 3000+ 1.80GHz 800 MHz 128 KB 754
Sempron 3100+ 1.80 GHz 800 MHz 256 KB 754
Sempron 3300+ 2 GHz 800 MHz 256 KB 754
Sempron 3400+ 2 GHz 800 MHz 256 KB 754


 

To learn more about the HyperTransport bus, read our article about it.

Processor Internal Clock External Clock L2 Memory Cache Core
Athlon XP 1500+ 1.33 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB Palomino
Athlon XP 1600+ 1.40 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB Palomino or T-Bred
Athlon XP 1700+ 1. 46 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB Palomino or T-Bred
Athlon XP 1800+ 1.53 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB Palomino or T-Bred
Athlon XP 1900+ 1.60 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB Palomino or T-Bred
Athlon XP 2000+ 1.66 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB Palomino or T-Bred
Athlon XP 2100+ 1.73 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB Palomino or T-Bred
Athlon XP 2200+ 1.80 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB T-Bred
Athlon XP 2400+ 2 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB T-Bred
Athlon XP 2500+ 1.83 GHz 333 MHz 512 KB Barton
Athlon XP 2600+ 2.13 GHz 266 MHz 256 KB T-Bred
Athlon XP 2600+ 333 2.08 GHz 333 MHz 256 KB T-Bred
Athlon XP 2600+ 1. 90 GHz 333 MHz 512 KB Barton
Athlon XP 2700+ 2.16 GHz 333 MHz 256 KB T-Bred
Athlon XP 2800+ 2.25 GHz 333 MHz 256 KB T-Bred
Athlon XP 2800+ 2.08 GHz 333 MHz 512 KB Barton
Athlon XP 3000+ 2.16 GHz 333 MHz 512 KB Barton
Athlon XP 3000+ 400 2.10 GHz 400 MHz 512 KB Barton
Athlon XP 3200+ 2.20 GHz 400 MHz 512 KB Barton

CPU Tutorials

AMD Sempron 2800+ vs AMD Athlon XP 2800+


Comparative analysis of AMD Sempron 2800+ and AMD Athlon XP 2800+ processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Compatibility.
Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark — Single thread mark, PassMark — CPU mark.

AMD Sempron 2800+

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vs

AMD Athlon XP 2800+

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Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Sempron 2800+

  • CPU is newer: launch date 5 year(s) 4 month(s) later
  • A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 65 nm vs 130 nm
  • Around 51% lower typical power consumption: 45 Watt vs 68 Watt




Launch date May 2006 vs January 2001
Manufacturing process technology 65 nm vs 130 nm
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 45 Watt vs 68 Watt

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon XP 2800+

  • Around 30% higher clock speed: 2. 08 GHz vs 1.6 GHz
  • 4x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
  • Around 7% better performance in PassMark — CPU mark: 260 vs 243




Maximum frequency 2.08 GHz vs 1.6 GHz
L2 cache 512 KB vs 128 KB
PassMark — CPU mark 260 vs 243

Compare benchmarks


CPU 1: AMD Sempron 2800+
CPU 2: AMD Athlon XP 2800+



PassMark — Single thread mark

CPU 1
CPU 2


PassMark — CPU mark

CPU 1
CPU 2





Name AMD Sempron 2800+ AMD Athlon XP 2800+
PassMark — Single thread mark 408 408
PassMark — CPU mark 243 260

Compare specifications (specs)










AMD Sempron 2800+ AMD Athlon XP 2800+
Architecture codename Manila Barton
Family AMD Sempron
Launch date May 2006 January 2001
Launch price (MSRP) $104
OPN Tray AXDA2800DKV4D
Place in performance rating 2540 2530
Price now $19. 99
Series AMD Sempron
Value for money (0-100) 5.65
Vertical segment Desktop Desktop
64 bit support
Base frequency 56 MHz
Die size 103 mm 101 mm
L1 cache 128 KB 128 KB
L2 cache 128 KB 512 KB
Manufacturing process technology 65 nm 130 nm
Maximum core temperature 70°C
Maximum frequency 1.

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