Cerb
Elite Member
Higher clock speed increases heat. Heat = power.
Going to a small process decreases heat.
Using the low-k dielectric thingie decreases heat.
Using less transistors decreases heat.
So the 9500 Pro, with a full .15u 9700 core, is a power-hungry monster.
The 9600 Pro, with less than 2/3 the transistors (IIRC), on .13u process, uses much less heat.
The 9600 XT, using a low-k dielectric, uses even less power. Also, in the process, much like all these Athlon core revisions, they found where they were hitting walls in getting it to run at higher clock speeds, did a bit of redesigning, and got it to run faster.
If any of that is incorrect, I'm going from memory.
edit: Yeah, I meant .15
Going to a small process decreases heat.
Using the low-k dielectric thingie decreases heat.
Using less transistors decreases heat.
So the 9500 Pro, with a full .15u 9700 core, is a power-hungry monster.
The 9600 Pro, with less than 2/3 the transistors (IIRC), on .13u process, uses much less heat.
The 9600 XT, using a low-k dielectric, uses even less power. Also, in the process, much like all these Athlon core revisions, they found where they were hitting walls in getting it to run at higher clock speeds, did a bit of redesigning, and got it to run faster.
If any of that is incorrect, I'm going from memory.
edit: Yeah, I meant .15
