Three Types of Athlons?

[CyberSax]

I guess I've been "out of the loop" longer than I thought. At AMD's website, http://www1.amd.com/athlon/mbl, they have three different types of Athlon 800's listed (the processor that I want to buy in the near future). One is the "Slot", another is a "Socket", and the last one is a "new slot A AMD Athlon? processor featuring performance-enhancing cache memory".

Which one of these three are supposed to be the best?

 

[SuperSix]

Well.. I don't know about three.. here goes:

SlotA "Classic" Athlon, 512k L2 external cache, .18 or .25 micron
SlotA "Thunderbird" Athlon, 256k L2 internal(core) cache, .18 micron
SocketA Athlon, 256k L2 internal(core) cache, .18 micron
SocketA Duron, 64k L2 internal(core) cache, .18 micron

The SocketA versions are arguably the best, but the motherboards are immature, if not nearly non-existant. IMO, the best bet now is the SlotA "Thunderbird" Athlon, 256k L2 internal(core) cache, .18 micron, 750 or higher, with a nice stable MSI6195 K7Pro board, and a good GFD. Almost guaranteed 1Ghz.

 

[CyberSax]

A few more questions:

Would the Thunderbird Slot A Athlons work on an ASUS K7V (or the similar mobo released from ABIT)?

And when is the - I'm assuming this is the best Socket A mobo - ASUS A7V supposed to come out?

 

[Mem]

The Asus A7V is out already (at least here in the UK)next there are no guarantees that anything over 700mhz( SlotA thunderbirds)will work on Asus K7V boards or Abit KA7.There have been reports of people getting slotA 700mhz thunderbirds working on above boards I mentioned but to be honest if you want a Thunderbird buy a SocketA board(with socketA Thunderbird) you will save yourself alot of headaches.

 

[SuperSix]

Actually, As a rule, SlotA Athlon "Thunderbirds" do not work on ANY motherboard with a KX133 chipset, the K7V included. Some can get it to work somewhat, but it is far from a stable computing platform. I *hear* rumours that Asus is coming out with a SlotA board specifically for the SlotA Tbirds, but it's doubtful, as SlotA CPU's are getting phased out quickly. As for a good SocketA board, I would still stick with a Microstar product, I haven't been impressed at all with Asus' Athlon offerings.

 

[Peter C.]

I´ve heard the Asus-Slot A board for the T-Birds is called K7V T.

Some vendors have put it on their lists, but as with the Asus A7V, nobody seems to have it on stock.

 

[Ulysses]

Good question.

Supersix was right when he identified those 3 versions of the Athlon - the fourth CPU he listed is a Duron, which is not an Athlon, but which is interchangeable with a Socket A style new Athlon/Thunderbird CPU's in motherboards based on the VIA Apollo KT133 chipset.

The Slot A format CPU should be avoided unless you already have a Slot A board, and even then such a match is highly questionable. See
http://www.athlonoc.com/slottbird_1.htm

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A smart buyer should purchase a new Athlon (aka Thunderbird) CPU, or a Duron CPU, in the Socket A format (that's a bare chip with pins sticking out of the bottom), not in the Slot A format. Match that to a motherboard based on the Apollo KT133 chipset (not the KX133 chipset) and having a corresponding Socket A connecter for the CPU. These motherboards are just coming on the market. A great mobo is the ASUS A7V, but it's expensive. lesser lights are the Gigabyte GA-7ZM and the FIC AZ-11. There will be others. I have seen no comparative reviews at this point.

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Take a look at AnandTech's monthly Buyer's Guides. Each month they have a High End Systems Guide and a Value Systems Guide outlining numerous configurations for different purposes and budgets. Note that the Guides won't recommend components that are not yet quite on the market, although they may mention them. Here are the latest Guides that I?ve seen:

AnandTech Buyer?s Guide - Value Systems ? July, 2000:
http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.html?i=1269

AnandTech Buyer?s Guide - High End Systems ? July, 2000:
http:// [url]http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1283 [/url]
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Check prices at:
http:// [url]http://www.pricewatch.com/ [/url]
or
http:// [url]http://ibuyer.net/ [/url]

Check vendors at:
http:// [url]http://www.resellerratings.com/ [/url]

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EDIT:
Corrected and expanded the list of motherboards above.

 

[TerryMathews]

Duron is an Athlon. It's the Athlon formerly known as Spitfire.