For those interested in minimizing CPU heat and building a near-silent PC, like mine with just one Panaflo fan. Here are my brief experiences with AthlonXP 1700+ (1466mhz).
I'll mention first that unlocking the XP was a rather tedious experience, because the conductive pen recommended by Tomshardware (store: Mouser) is extremely low quality--too poor to be able to follow Tomzilla's own instructions. Conductive grease would have been much better. Regardless, I'm happy that AMD at least allows unlocking the multiplier. If I was using Intel processors to build a quiet system, I'd be forced to resort to sub-par FSB speeds to reduce the CPU clock and lower the wattage. (P4's normally use unacceptably high wattage just like Athlons, as far as quiet fan cooling is concerned.) On to my results:
My torture test involved running BurnK6.exe alongside regular Windows apps. BurnK6 activates many parts of AMD processors simultaneously, requiring a near-maximum power draw. Thus, running at the default 1466mhz (133x11.0), the processor required full default voltage to avoid errors! This means it was using 1.71vcore and drawing a maximum of 64.0 watts. On my rig, socket temperature was approaching a dangerous 80C in this torture test, with case cover open. Max operating CPU temp is 90C for Athlon XP.
However, lowering the speed to 1333mhz (133x10.0) made a dramatic improvement. I was able to boot at 1.36vcore, but Windows crashed after loading. However, at 1.41vcore everything ran fine, and the torture test encountered no problems having run nearly an hour! By my estimates, this voltage corresponds to about 39.6 watts.
Just to be safe, I bumped up the voltage one more setting to 1.46vcore corresponding to 42.4watts max power. With the case cover closed as normal, and the torture test running for an hour, the socket temperature is only 67C--well within CPU spec.
That's a very nice achievement--1.33ghz and only 42.4watts. And I imagine higher-end XP's would do even better. It shows that the Palomino/XP core really is an improvement over Tbird. Well done AMD.
Leo
I'll mention first that unlocking the XP was a rather tedious experience, because the conductive pen recommended by Tomshardware (store: Mouser) is extremely low quality--too poor to be able to follow Tomzilla's own instructions. Conductive grease would have been much better. Regardless, I'm happy that AMD at least allows unlocking the multiplier. If I was using Intel processors to build a quiet system, I'd be forced to resort to sub-par FSB speeds to reduce the CPU clock and lower the wattage. (P4's normally use unacceptably high wattage just like Athlons, as far as quiet fan cooling is concerned.) On to my results:
My torture test involved running BurnK6.exe alongside regular Windows apps. BurnK6 activates many parts of AMD processors simultaneously, requiring a near-maximum power draw. Thus, running at the default 1466mhz (133x11.0), the processor required full default voltage to avoid errors! This means it was using 1.71vcore and drawing a maximum of 64.0 watts. On my rig, socket temperature was approaching a dangerous 80C in this torture test, with case cover open. Max operating CPU temp is 90C for Athlon XP.
However, lowering the speed to 1333mhz (133x10.0) made a dramatic improvement. I was able to boot at 1.36vcore, but Windows crashed after loading. However, at 1.41vcore everything ran fine, and the torture test encountered no problems having run nearly an hour! By my estimates, this voltage corresponds to about 39.6 watts.
Just to be safe, I bumped up the voltage one more setting to 1.46vcore corresponding to 42.4watts max power. With the case cover closed as normal, and the torture test running for an hour, the socket temperature is only 67C--well within CPU spec.
That's a very nice achievement--1.33ghz and only 42.4watts. And I imagine higher-end XP's would do even better. It shows that the Palomino/XP core really is an improvement over Tbird. Well done AMD.
Leo
