Dispersal of processors AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) and Duron
(Continuation)

Processors AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) and Duron

Processors AMD Athlon (created on the basis of a kernel known as Thunderbird) Duron, are delivered in tanks PGA. According to the official name these processors in the text will be named as Duron and Athlon. Motherboards oriented to processors of this type, have the special plug - PGA-socket, named Socket A (462 contact electrodes).

Processor Duron has 128 Kbytes of the cache memory of the first level (L1) and 64 Kbytes of the cache memory of the second level (L2).

Processor Athlon differs from processor Duron only in the size of the cache memory of the second level: 256 Kbytes.

The specified processors are calculated for operation with bus Alpha EV6 developed by DEC corporation for processors Alpha and licensed for the products by AMD corporation.

Bus Alpha EV6 used as the bus of the processor (FSB), provides data transfer on both fronts of clock pulses (double-data-rate). It increases capacity, providing growth of productivity of all system of the computer. At clock rate of 100 MHz bus FSB Alpha EV6 named usually EV6, provides data transfer with frequency of 200 MHz, unlike buses GTL + and AGTL + processors Celeron, Pentium II/III of the corporation of Intel for which frequency data transfers and clock coincide.

According to features of the architecture processors AMD Athlon and Duron demand special motherboards with the chip sets supporting given processors. Cards provide a stable operation of these processors under condition of usage of power supplies of sufficient power, usually it not less than 235 W.

Processors AMD Athlon and Duron have the considerable technological store accepting rise of productivity at the expense of usage of modes of dispersal, for example, of rise frequency of the bus of the processor. However at all advantages the high operating frequency of the bus of processor FSB EV6 limits possibilities of dispersal of processors at the expense of increase frequency processor buses. Usually it is possible to increase frequency of the bus of the processor no more than by 10-15 %. Thus the limiting value of possible increase frequency buses of processor FSB EV6 and, accordingly, computer power increase depends on the used motherboard (from topology, quality of manufacture, features of used units).

Considering possibilities of usage of the forced modes, it is necessary to take into consideration, that processors AMD Athlon and Duron, as well as processors of Intel of Pentium II, Pentium III (Katmai, Coppermine) have the fixed multiplier - a multiplication factor frequency, linking internal and external frequency. Owing to used konstruktiva Socket A, eliminating change of resistors as it was in case of AMD Athlon under Slot A, change of frequency multipliers probably only by means of special hardware-software cредств, supported while rather limited type of motherboards.

As a result speeding up of operation of processors is carried out, as a rule, at the expense of increase external frequency - frequency processor FSB EV6 buses.

Results of the fulfilled researches linked to the analysis of possibility of operation in the forced mode of high-powered processors AMD Athlon and Duron are more low presented.

It is necessary to mark what to raise a supply voltage of a kernel of the processor it is admissible no more than on 5-10 % of the rather standardly placed level. Guidelines of AMD corporation concerning levels of a supply voltage of processors Athlon and Duron are presented in the following table.

For more exact analysis of a temperature mode of the computer and an estimation of necessary resources of cooling data about power of processors AMD Duron and AMD Athlon are more low cited.

The value of the frequency factor linking internal and external frequency of processors, and also supply voltage are set by appropriate contact electrodes of the processor. Some motherboards, using these contact electrodes, allow to change values of frequency multipliers of processors. As examples it is possible to result cards Abit KT7 and Soltek SL-KV75 + which have been used for demonstrating of possibility of dispersal of processors AMD Athlon and Duron through change of frequency multipliers.