Warm: OEM Semprons at Portatech.com

[ToeJam13]

Socket-A, OEM package

Sempron 3000+ (2.00GHz Core, 512KB Cache, 333MHz FSB)
[*]Portatech: $79
[*]Monarch: N/A (Retail Only)
[*]Newegg: N/A (Retail Only)
[*]ZipZoomFly: N/A (Retail Only)

Sempron 2800+ (2.00GHz Core, 256KB Cache, 333MHz FSB)
[*]Portatech: $70
[*]Monarch: $80 (free ship)
[*]Newegg: $99
[*]ZipZoomFly: N/A (Retail Only)

Sempron 2600+ (1.83GHz Core, 256KB Cache, 333MHz FSB)
[*]Portatech: $61
[*]Monarch: $75 (free ship)
[*]Newegg: 78
[*]ZipZoomFly: N/A (Retail Only)

Sempron 2500+ (1.75GHz Core, 256KB Cache, 333MHz FSB)
[*]Portatech: $56
[*]Monarch: $67 (free ship)
[*]Newegg: $71
[*]ZipZoomFly: N/A (Retail Only)

Sempron 2400+ (1.66GHz Core, 256KB Cache, 333MHz FSB)
[*]Portatech: $54
[*]Monarch: $64 (free ship)
[*]Newegg: $68
[*]ZipZoomFly: N/A (Retail Only)

 

[Morpheux]

Would have been nice if I seen this 2 days ago. I ordered the OEM Barton 3000+ for $115. Would have saved the $35 and went with the Sempron........

 

[middlehead]

Reseller Ratings

 

[IanWorthington]

Any idea how the Semprons compare to the Athlon XPs?

ian
...

 

[ToeJam13]

It depends on the apps.

Anandtech did a big article some time back, but it was rather botched because they picked Sempron chips with PR speeds that didn't match any AthlonXP chips. Without a head-to-head match of Semprons vs Athlons at the same PR rating, it was hard to tell exactly how it compared.

However, the article showed that the Sempron/2800 usually came in slightly ahead of an AthlonXP/2600 with exception of encoding (AthlonXP/2600 has 512KB cache vs. Sempron 256KB). The difference between the two chips was about the same percentage as the difference between the AthlonXP/2600 and AthlonXP/2400.

So for games, a Sempron is a okay deal. For media encoding and raytracing (strong FPU needs), the Sempron is rather lackluster. For compiling and buisness applications (strong INT needs), the Sempron is a good choice.

UPDATE:
Tom's Hardware has their big head-to-head charts that have a few specs:

OpenGL Test Quake III Arena
[*]AthlonXP-B/200FSB/3000+ 324.0
[*]AthlonXP-B/166FSB/3000+ 309.2
[*]Sempron-B/166FSB/3000+ 295.3
[*]AthlonXP-B/166FSB/2800+ 304.2
[*]AthlonXP-T/166FSB/2800+ 309.1
[*]Sempron-T/166FSB/2800+ 286.7

DirectX 8 Unreal Tournament 2004
[*]AthlonXP-B/200FSB/3000+ 108.4
[*]AthlonXP-B/166FSB/3000+ 105.0
[*]Sempron-B/166FSB/3000+ 100.0
[*]AthlonXP-B/166FSB/2800+ 103.3
[*]AthlonXP-T/166FSB/2800+ 101.8
[*]Sempron-T/166FSB/2800+ 94.8

Application WinRAR
[*]AthlonXP-B/200FSB/3000+ 6m 26s
[*]AthlonXP-B/166FSB/3000+ 7m 19s
[*]Sempron-B/166FSB/3000+ 7m 22s
[*]AthlonXP-B/166FSB/2800+ 7m 21s
[*]AthlonXP-T/166FSB/2800+ 7m 28s
[*]Sempron-T/166FSB/2800+ 7m 39s

Synthetic SiSoft Sandra 2004 Pro
[*]AthlonXP-B/200FSB/3000+ 8624
[*]AthlonXP-B/166FSB/3000+ 8898
[*]Sempron-B/166FSB/3000+ 8220
[*]AthlonXP-B/166FSB/2800+ 8556
[*]AthlonXP-T/166FSB/2800+ 9325
[*]Sempron-T/166FSB/2800+ 8216

Notes:
-B = Barton Core
-T = Thoughbred Core

 

[KristopherKubicki]

I am not familiar with Portatech, nor do I want to be:

http://labs.anandtech.com/search.php?q=sempron+-754

Check out those prices.

Kristopher

 

[IanWorthington]

Originally posted by: ToeJam13
It depends on the apps.

Anandtech did a big article some time back, but it was rather botched because they picked Sempron chips with PR speeds that didn't match any AthlonXP chips. Without a head-to-head match of Semprons vs Athlons at the same PR rating, it was hard to tell exactly how it compared.

However, the article showed that the Sempron/2800 usually came in slightly ahead of an AthlonXP/2600 with exception of encoding (AthlonXP/2600 has 512KB cache vs. Sempron 256KB). The difference between the two chips was about the same percentage as the difference between the AthlonXP/2600 and AthlonXP/2400.

So for games, a Sempron is a okay deal. For media encoding and raytracing (strong FPU needs), the Sempron is rather lackluster. For compiling and buisness applications (strong INT needs), the Sempron is a good choice.

Thanks ToeJam. Guess I'll wait a bit for the Athlon XP 3200+ price to drop. Another year, people should be giving them away on ebay...!

Thanks again,

ian
...

 

[ToeJam13]

Originally posted by: IanWorthington
Thanks ToeJam. Guess I'll wait a bit for the Athlon XP 3200+ price to drop. Another year, people should be giving them away on ebay...!

Hah, think again. The highest end chips for any given platform tend to remain very expensive. I've been hoping to pick up a cheap PIII/800E for some time now for an old system I have. However, since its the best Slot-1 100MHz FSB processor Intel released, it carries a serious price premium.

I personally own an Athlon XP/3200+ and let me tell you, its a very hot chip. Unless you already own a mainboard, I would consider a Socket-754 Sempron instead.

 

[Natsuki]

Originally posted by: IanWorthington
I personally own an Athlon XP/3200+ and let me tell you, its a very hot chip.

Hot as in price-wise or temperature-wise?

 

[KristopherKubicki]

Hah, think again. The highest end chips for any given platform tend to remain very expensive.

This is generally true for most things except Socket A Athlon 64 chips. This isn't AMD's market strategy -- Granted you should still buy now as prices will increase due to the fact that its an EOL product. Now if you want to talk about FX chips.... thats another story.

With regard to the P3 800E; there was a time where that was a really cheap chip, you've just missed the boat.

Kristopher