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When AMD offered to send us their latest Sempron CPU for review, we honestly felt a little ashamed — we had almost entirely forgotten about the budget CPU that launched last June. Had we missed other Sempron reviews since its launch? Were we too tied up in the higher end desktop processors and the dual core migration to pay attention to AMD’s brand new budget line? After a moment’s panic, we calmed ourselves and realized something that had surprised us a bit — AMD hadn’t released a faster Socket-754 Sempron since its launch in June 2004. Not a single new CPU in ten and a half months. We stopped feeling so bad.

Intel was slightly better, but not by much. After our original review of the 90nm Celeron D, Intel released one more CPU, the Celeron D 345, late last year, but it’s been quiet since then. And we thought the mainstream CPU race had slowed down.

So, it was time for an updated comparison, but luckily, the field hadn’t changed much — or had it? Remembering back to our original Sempron review, AMD initially introduced two Semprons: a Socket-A and an Socket-754 version. The Socket-A version has topped out at 3000+ (2.0GHz) and it doesn’t look like there’s any future beyond it for the aging platform. The Socket-754 platform has yet to out-live its welcome and thus, AMD’s newest Sempron, the Sempron 3300+, is a Socket-754-only CPU. The Socket-754 Sempron is based on AMD’s K8 architecture, but is a 32-bit only CPU (no x64 support here). As a Socket-754 CPU, the Sempron only features a single channel DDR400 memory controller.

Intel’s Celeron D 345 was merely a clock bump to the Celeron D 335 that we reviewed last June, bringing Intel’s fastest Celeron up to 3.06GHz while still remaining on the 533MHz FSB. AMD’s Sempron 3300+ isn’t as simple of a transition, however. The original Socket-754 Sempron was built on a 130nm process and featured a 256KB L2 cache, whereas the new Sempron 3300+ is built on AMD’s 90nm process and features a 128KB L2 cache. The new Sempron also features all of the enhancements that made it into the 90nm Athlon 64 processors — mainly SSE3 support and some enhancements to the memory controller.

The higher rating is due to a higher clock speed; the Sempron 3300+ runs at 2. 0GHz compared to the 3100+’s 1.8GHz clock. But with half of the L2 cache, the performance picture is bound to be much more interesting than just a regular clock bump.

With only a 128KB L2 cache, the Sempron 3300+ is definitely a step back in terms of the cache sizes that we expect to see on modern day microprocessors. At the same time, halving the cache while moving to a smaller process ensures that AMD can enjoy larger profit margins on these new Sempron CPUs. But AMD’s profit margins aren’t our concern here; what we care about is how the 3300+ performs and going one step further, a cool running 90nm chip with a very small 128KB L2 cache is quite attractive to the overclocker in us.

With an on-die memory controller, the Socket-754 Semprons can get away with having relatively small L2 caches, since their main memory access latencies are very low to begin with. But even if we estimate that the on-die memory controller of a Sempron reduces memory accesses to around ~120 cycles, an access from L2 cache is going to still take about 1/10th that. In the end, while AMD’s K8 architecture is less dependent on large caches, it is still not impervious to the impact that a small one can have.

Priced at $127, the Sempron 3300+ is priced similarly to Intel’s Celeron D 345 ($133) and the Athlon 64 3000+ ($140). That being said, let’s see how it competes…

The Test

AMD Athlon 64 Configuration

Socket-939 Athlon 64 CPUs

2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 EL Dual Channel DIMMs 2-2-2-10

MSI nForce4 SLI Motherboard

ATI Radeon X800 XT PCI Express

AMD Sempron Configuration

Socket-754 Sempron CPUs

2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 EL Dual Channel DIMMs 2-2-2-10

ABIT NF8 nForce3 Motherboard

ATI Radeon X800 XT AGP

Intel Celeron D Configuration

LGA-775 Intel Celeron D 345 (3.06GHz)

2 x 512MB Crucial DDR-II 533 Dual Channel DIMMs 3-3-3-12

Intel 915P Motherboard

ATI Radeon X800 XT PCI Express

Business/General Use Performance
IndexBusiness/General Use PerformanceMultitasking Content CreationVideo Creation/Photo EditingAudio/Video EncodingGaming Performance3D RenderingWorkstation ApplicationsOverclocking & Final Words

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the battle for Socket 754 and the world’s fastest PC based on Windows 98SE (page 5)

The option to search for the top desktop AMD Athlon 64 3700+ on the «Clawhammer» core with 1MB of cache memory did not suit me and I found the best option in the face mobile Athlon 64 3400+ based on the «Newark» core, which had 1 MB of cache memory of the 2nd level, was manufactured according to a thinner tech. process, respectively, there was a chance of its operation at a higher frequency.

This processor does not have a protective cover, but the contact with the cooling system is better. By the way, not all motherboards are able to work with this mobile processor. My Abit NF8 could not recognize this processor, due to the lack of the necessary microcodes in the BIOS, but ASUS K8N4-E Deluxe accepted it without any problems.

The test bench remained unchanged, except for the CPU. Newark managed to overclock to a stable frequency of 2904 MHz, but it is capable of more, and I was already running out of time like LN2. At this frequency, the previous result was improved by 200 points, the final figure was 7 814 marks, which gave the final 10th place in this test.

The first to break the 8k 3DMark2005 milestone was an American overclocker sunset1 from Team Overclock.net . Armed with the top-end AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (Clawhammer), it was possible to overclock it to a modest 2700 MHz with the help of CBO. The video card Radeon X850 XT PE was overclocked to 654/1350 MHz, which resulted in 8 003 marks.

It can be seen that the overclocker creatively approached the arrangement of the test bench. See more of the American’s favorite stuffed toys here.

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Russian overclocker ZFeSS from the Hardware Hackers team overclocked the top mobile Athlon 64 4000+ (Newark) to 2900 MHz and the Radeon X850 XT PE video card to 660/1260 MHz, which eventually gave 8 088 marks and 8th place.

The second Russian overclocker sebro from the Team MXS ModLabs.net overclocked an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Clawhammer) to 3 GHz using a freon, at this frequency the processor passed the 3DMark2005 test. Also in the test bench was a Radeon X850 XT PE, overclocked to 669/1326 MHz, overclocking was successful thanks to the voltmod of the video card. Judging by the photo, the voltage on the GPU and memory was separately increased. The final result was 8 142 marks.

Overclocker macsbeach98 from the American team Warp9-systems overclocked his Athlon 64 4000+ (Newark) to 3133 MHz and the Radeon X850 XT video card to 682/1310 MHz with the help of CBO. The test bench was based on a DFI Infinity NF4X motherboard. The final result was 8 159 marks.

The Ukrainian team of overclockers Overclockers.UA in this stage of the Championship was represented by Snegovick . In order to get ahead of all the above-named rivals, he did not have to overclock his CPU sky-high, the Athlon 64 3000+ (Venice) only worked at a frequency of 2801 MHz, but the video card was subjected to voltmod. Radeon X850 XT was overclocked to 678/1290 MHz, but thanks to soft tuning, the final result was higher than that of macsbeach98 , who apparently squeezed everything out of his system.

With the result 8 163 marks Snegovick takes the 4th line in the standings. During the surge tests, as it turned out, his Radeon X850 XT rested in Bose, RIP in Peace …

The third line of the standings was headed by a Russian man-team Remarc . His mobile Athlon 64 4000+ (Newark) was overclocked to 3029 MHz using air cooling, the Radeon X850 XT was tested at relatively low frequencies of 635/1270 MHz, but the result was 8 874 marks startled many. Below you can see a photo of the test stand of the bronze medalist.

Second place went to a Swede named Lanbonden from Team TechSweden.org . The Swedish overclocker was very seriously prepared for the task given by the organizers of the tournament, so he used a combination of CBO cooling systems for the processor and a freon for the video card. The test system consisted of a DFI LANparty UT nF3 250Gb motherboard, an AMD Mobile Athlon 64 3400+ (Newark) processor running at 3137 MHz, and an AGP Radeon X850 XT video card with an impressive overclock of 752/1314 MHz.

To get to the coveted number 8 943 marks, the Swede spent as many as three AGP Radeon X850 XT, let me remind you, I could not find a single such card. How it all happened, the photo of the stand will tell.

First place with a fantastic number 9 020 marks belongs to Greek overclocker Stelaras from HwBox Hellas O/C Team . Athlon 64 4000+ (Newark) processor overclocked to 2991 MHz and Radeon X850 XT PE video card overclocked by 50% on GPU! up to frequencies of 810/1310 MHz were cooled with liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -80C. The system was based on the ASUS K8N4-E motherboard based on the nForce 4X chipset.

The final leaderboard in the 3DMark2005 test on Socket754 looks like this.