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AMD 2800+

AMD is once again looking for the coveted Speed Crown and this time they enlist the help of NVIDIA in their quest.

Silicon on Paper:

Seems like just yesterday we were kicking around the newly introduced AthlonXP 2600+, and you would be close to correct. AMD is today launching their flagship 2800+ AthlonXP, but very much in the shadow of the 2400+ and 2600+.

Why do I say shadowed? As paper launches have gotten to be SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in the computer industry, AMD has recently done something that is new even to us. On this next point there is sure to be some argument, but we are going to lay it out like we see it. The 2600+ was very much a paper launch and we're now seeing the 2800+ being part of a paper launch as well. While this is not surprising in the least, what is surprising is that the CPU they paper launched last time is still not available. Meaning that I can't go to my favorite online retailer and find it in stock.

I am now two-deep in paper launched CPUs from AMD. I think this is not a good example of how to do things for their stockholders. Paper launch the 2600+. Push back Barton. Push back Hammer. Paper launch 2800+. Obviously, we would very much like for our readers to be able to buy the products that we help show off for AMD, and I would assume that AMD would like you to be able to buy them as well. Maybe it's my fault for showing these wares off to you guys to begin with. I guess we should be labeled "Paper Launchers" too.

Now let's even stir the pot even more. Let's show the performance of this new 2800+ on a mainboard you can't even buy. The nForce2. AMD asked us to benchmark on this board and supplied the board to us. You can't buy the board. In fact everyone that would comment on the nForce2 in Taiwan used the words "broken" and "buggy" to describe it. There are no production nForce2 boards being made, and I would honestly guess that if we see any by November in quantity, we would be "lucky". Lucky to be able to buy them, or lucky they work? I will let you decide that one.

I don't often get that dirty feeling, but this time it seems as if things are just not right. But anyway, this is the hand we got dealt, along with all the other guys out there, so this is the hand we will play.

The Chip @ 333MHz:

The 2800+ is based on the Thoroughbred core design that was introduced with the 2200+. If you're unaware of the core's history, it did change a bit with the launch of the 2400+ and the 2600+. The 2200+ was pretty much a hot running dog when it came to overclocking, but the TBred "B" core revision, which the 2400+, 2600+, 2700+, and 2800+ are built on, is very much a different animal. To catch up on what we should be seeing out of the Rev.B TBred cores, you can check out our 2400+ OCing article. While the 2800+ does run a bit hotter, it's still a cool running chip.

The thing about this CPU that's making the most waves is that it utilizes the 333MHz Front Side Bus that so many of us have been waiting for. Of course, the proof will be in the benchmarks. Our 2800+ is clocked at a respectable 166*13.5=2241MHz, or a rounded 2.25GHz. Our double data rate bus at 166*2 gives us the "333MHz Front Side Bus" that you're very likely to see advertised soon.

While this is all very exciting, the increasing clock is going to give the 2800+ its true power while finally allowing the memory bus to feed at a synchronous 333MHz. As we've seen in the past, ramping our RAM speeds much beyond the native bus speed of the Athlon has done little for us.

Here are the official specs on the 2800+:

Of course, we couldn't have a launch article without a couple of pics to show you our CPU.

Worthy of mention here is the fact that AMD did not send me the CPU with the "2800" scrawled across the front in Sharpie marker; that's my handiwork. They did, however, send another CPU with an asterisk on it, which I finally got an explanation about. It seems that press chips are hand tested to make sure they work before they ship, and it's marked for whose office it came out of. Actually he's a "famous" guy from the old school Quake scene, but that's another article.

On to the benchmarks.