The $28 CPU that could

[formulav8]

A month or 2 ago I got a new unopened retail SempronII 140 for $28 shipped in the fs/ft forum. You can actually get it for $33 shipped which is a nice price either way


Update #1: Couldn't get 4ghz stable enough, at least to me.

Update #2: I can now get 3.9ghz half-way stable but around the 1.6v mark. I believe that is well over the highest recommended. I may try 4ghz again and lower the htt, nb, and ram speeds...


I'm using a ThermalRight XP-90 HSF and Asrock 780/710 based mobo. All 4x Dimm Memory slots is filled with 4x 1GB sticks of DDR2 667mhz Corsair ram.

Anyways, I recently decided to tinker with it and right away it successfully unlocked to an AthlonII 4400e. A $28-$33 Dual Core is quite nice.

I then decided to see how far I could clock it and I managed to get 3.8ghz which is the most impressive part for this cpu. Its quite stable using alittle more than 1.55v using Windows7 64 bit. I have not tried any higher yet but may try that 4 Ghz mark later. Below is a screenshot and basic bench results...

PCMark 2005 - 8,839

Fritz Chess Bench 4.2 - 9.17 relative speed and 4,402 knodes per second

AquaMark3 - GFX: 18,015; CPU: 14,089; Total: 109,898

Cinebench R10 64 Bit - 1 CPU: 4,110; Both Cores: 7,887; 1.92x Speed Up; OpenGL: 3,962

Super PI - 21.570 seconds

Of course not all will unlock to a dual core nor do all hit 3.8ghz. I only got it for tinker purposes but it will definitely give my main e5200 @ 3.3ghz comp a run for its money! Anyways, I just figured it was worth mentioning. Pretty decent bang to the buck! :sneaky:


Jason

 

[arcenite]

I'm sorry but an Athlon is not going to give a Core2 Duo a run for anything... nice chip, though.

 

[crisium]

I'm sorry but an Athlon is not going to give a Core2 Duo a run for anything... nice chip, though.

Ugh, I'd post a face palm if I could. The point is if you can unlock it that's a really fun and cheap way to get a modern dual core.

And that's a Athlon II, not Athlon. For sure, at 3.8GHz it would hold it's own with most Core 2s at stock or with a very light OC. Probably can go toe to toe with 3.0-3.3Ghz Core 2, more or less depending on the cache of the C2.

 

[CarpeDiem99]

I'm sorry but an Athlon is not going to give a Core2 Duo a run for anything... nice chip, though.

I'm gunna quote your avatar and say ORLY?

@ OP, nice chip, now bench the e5200 vs the athlon II and lets see which one is better.

 

[happy medium]

The only difference between that chip unlocked and a Athlon II 240 is 1 mb of cache.

Here is a comparison of a Athlon II 240 @2.8 vs a e5300 @ 2.6 (both stock)
Remember the stock Sempron II is @ 2.7 and unlocked to 2 cores.

This is a good idea how the Sempron II @ 2.8 and e5300 @ 2.6 match up.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=114&p2=98&c=1

The Sempron II is mabe a little slower clock for clock then the e5300 with games.
I'd say his Sempron @ 3.8 is about a e5200 @ 3.6.
Now a e5200 @ 3.6 = to a e8400@ 3.2
Thats one fast chip for 30$!

e5300 @2.6 vs a 4400e @2.3 here.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=37&p2=98&c=1

Still a good gaming cpu.

 

[Tsavo]

Celeron E3200 at 3 GHz:

CINEBENCH R10
Rendering (Single CPU): 3298 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 6152 CB-CPU

Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.87

Shading (OpenGL Standard): 5334 CB-GFX

Super Pi 1M: 19.327s

Fritz:
Relative Speed: 8.11
Kilo Nodes/s: 3893

Running PC Mark 05 for the 2nd time...1st run gave no results.

I'd try running at faster than 3 GHz, but I've got Crucial DDR2/800 and I'm not sure how much abuse it'll take.

 

[jtisgeek]

Nice man fun to see what you can get out of chips like that. That's a very fast 30 dollars either way.

 

[n7]

Excellent! :twisted:

 

[Arkaign]

Celeron E3200 at 3 GHz:

CINEBENCH R10
Rendering (Single CPU): 3298 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 6152 CB-CPU

Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.87

Shading (OpenGL Standard): 5334 CB-GFX

Super Pi 1M: 19.327s

Fritz:
Relative Speed: 8.11
Kilo Nodes/s: 3893

Running PC Mark 05 for the 2nd time...1st run gave no results.

I'd try running at faster than 3 GHz, but I've got Crucial DDR2/800 and I'm not sure how much abuse it'll take.

Damn, that's faster than I thought a 3ghz Celly would do

Hah, it's like 8x faster than a 3ghz Northwood Celeron (128k L2).

 

[Spikesoldier]

very nice, im sure thats near the limit for that chips and its more expensive brothers in athlon II X2 lines.

 

[Tsavo]

Just ran PC Mark 05 ... this time with the 32-bit encoder that works with the program.

7394 PC Marks.

 

[aigomorla]

Ugh, I'd post a face palm if I could. The point is if you can unlock it that's a really fun and cheap way to get a modern dual core.

And that's a Athlon II, not Athlon. For sure, at 3.8GHz it would hold it's own with most Core 2s at stock or with a very light OC. Probably can go toe to toe with 3.0-3.3Ghz Core 2, more or less depending on the cache of the C2.

i had a C2D X6800 that did 4ghz back in 2006 :X
If you dont believe me, you can ask gillbot, he ended up taking the chip off me.

I'm gunna quote your avatar and say ORLY?

@ OP, nice chip, now bench the e5200 vs the athlon II and lets see which one is better.

As i said, i was doing it on C2D back in 2006. lol..

4 yrs ago...


@ OP, it looks like a fun chip tho @ 28 dollars.
I would probably try to kill it @ massive vcore just for the hell of it.
If i poped it, grab another one..

 

[ShawnD1]

I then decided to see how far I could clock it and I managed to get 3.8ghz which is the most impressive part for this cpu. Its quite stable using alittle more than 1.55v using Windows7 64 bit. I have not tried any higher yet but may try that 4 Ghz mark later.

Jesus. What's the power consumption at that voltage?

For reference, an Athlon II X4 620 quad core at 2.6GHz is stable at 1.05 volts.

 

[alyarb]

The only difference between that chip unlocked and a Athlon II 240 is 1 mb of cache.

just want to point out that the entire L2 is unlocked also.

 

[Tsavo]

i had a C2D X6800 that did 4ghz back in 2006 :X
If you dont believe me, you can ask gillbot, he ended up taking the chip off me.



As i said, i was doing it on C2D back in 2006. lol..

4 yrs ago...

That's nothing. I had a 286 that would do 4 GHz...way back in 1987.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Unlocked Sempy 140 --- 3.83GHz / 1.39v. Got it in a combo with a Gigabyte 785g US2H for ""$16"" ....

Used an old Opty 'heat pipe' cooler. I ran OCCT for around 30 min before moving on. I kinda feel like it had some more but didn't want to stress the mobo without FET cooling and a fan on the NB HS.

Not sure of the temps. The 'heat pipe' was slightly warm to the touch.


edit: Back on 'combo' today ...

Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H / Sempy 140: $93 shipped to your front door



--

 

[formulav8]

Thanks for all of the comments

Wow booboo, I wouldn't have expected 3.8 at that low of a voltage. That voltage difference between mine and yours could definitely show a big power consumption difference....

Also, I tried 4ghz and no go. I even gave it 1.6v and it would go to the desktop and then crash. That 64Bit 4ghz brick wall is definitely real for the C2 stepping.

Anyways, as others has mentioned I will do some benchies on my 3.3ghz Core2 based system. I will also post Power Consumption data. IIRC idle consumption was around 165-175 watts.

But anyways, I may get some free time this evening.

Thanks again to all that posted and the advice.


Jason

 

[Gillbot]

i had a C2D X6800 that did 4ghz back in 2006 :X
If you dont believe me, you can ask gillbot, he ended up taking the chip off me.

That chip was brutal, it would run north of 600fsb on a low multi 24/7 and did 500fsb with a total clock of over 4GHz without sweating.... well, assuming you had the capacity to cool it enough.

 

[Bruiser1]

Thanks for all of the comments

Wow booboo, I wouldn't have expected 3.8 at that low of a voltage. That voltage difference between mine and yours could definitely show a big power consumption difference....

Also, I tried 4ghz and no go. I even gave it 1.6v and it would go to the desktop and then crash. That 64Bit 4ghz brick wall is definitely real for the C2 stepping.

Anyways, as others has mentioned I will do some benchies on my 3.3ghz Core2 based system. I will also post Power Consumption data. IIRC idle consumption was around 165-175 watts.

But anyways, I may get some free time this evening.

Thanks again to all that posted and the advice.


Jason

I just had mine delivered today from Newegg. I'm really looking forward to tinkering with it.

 

[SonicIce]

Is it K8, phenom, or phenom II based?

 

[crisium]

Athlon II is Phenom II without the L3. So slower clock-for-clock than PhII, but noticeably faster than Athlon 64.

 

[formulav8]

I now have 3.9ghz and am able to do benching, but at a high voltage of around 1.6v.

I am wondering what the highest short-term voltage would be??? Especially if it stay fairly cool....

I may shoot for 4ghz again....


Jason