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AMD Duron 850


Date
: 02/9/01 – 02:00:31 PM

Author
:

Category
: Processors

Manufactor: AMD

Price: $130

Special thanks to MPL for supplying us with the Duron 850 CPU

Introduction

Exactly one week after Intel’s release of their Celeron 800 running at a 100Mhz FSB instead of 66Mhz (which, by the way, gives the CPU a nice performance bump), AMD has decided to release their Duron 850. Did they intentionally wait till after the release of the Celeron 800? We will probably never know the answer to this question, but we all have our own opinion on this matter…

With the release of VIA’s KT133A chipset which now fully supports a 133Mhz FSB for AMD Athlon/Duron CPUs, an AMD system has become the most logical choice you can make if you intend to buy a new PC. Especially the Duron CPUs offer very high performance at a low cost! As you might have read in Tim’s Duron 600 @ 1Ghz review, these CPUs have become the overclockers dream chip.

As you might have already read on top of this review, we are about to take a look at the Duron 850, AMD’s latest addition to the Duron family which runs at a default core clock of 850MHz. (well, isn’t that obvious?? :)

Specifications

• 850MHz stock speed
• 8.5x multiplier
• 128kB on-die L1 cache
• 64kB on-die L2 cache
• 462-pin socket A design
• 1.6v core voltage

Specs In Detail

The AMD Duron 850 CPU contains no less than 25 million transistors with a 100mm of die space. Currently, all AMD Durons are manufactured @ AMD’s Fab25 in Austin, Texas using 0.18 aluminium interconnects and the Socket A form factor. Aren’t there any Durons using copper interconnects? The answer to this question is plain and simple : NO!

The Duron CPU core features 128kB on-die L1 cache that runs at core speed. These 128kB are divided into two parts : 64kB of L1 data cache & another 64kB of L1 instruction cache.

So far the specs on the the L1 cache of this CPU, now let’s get on to the L2 cache. The Duron features 64kB on-die L2 cache. With a simple calculation we can say the Duron CPUs have theirselves a total of 192kB on-die cache. (I’d like to note that the total on-die cache of an Intel Celeron CPU is only 32kB + 128kB = 160kB)

The Durons use a 100Mhz DDR FSB (effectively 200Mhz). That’s twice as much as the Celeron 800′s 100Mhz FSB. These Durons also support the 133Mhz FSB that is featured by the VIA KT133A chipset which boosts memory bandwith even more! Intel… eat this! ;)

Installation

Installing a Duron is just a piece of cake. The procedure is still the same as it has always been with every Socket A CPU. You unlock the CPU’s multiplier lock by penciling the L1 bridges, pull up the lever on the socket and put the CPU in its cage. Then you should lower the lever back down and the CPU should be secured.

Now, all that’s left for you to do is to provide this CPU with some cooling. I’d like to mention once more that this part is extremely tricky if you’re using an AMD Duron CPU because these CPUs have a core that is extremely fragile! To reduce that risk of crushing the core, I would advise you to use copper shims or copper plates. If you’re using a copper shim, then first put it onto the top of the CPU that you’ve already installed into the socket. Then add some thermal grease to the CPU en put on the cooler of your choice. That’s it!

Now that we know how to install this CPU onto our motherboard, we’re al set to begin the fun part of the review… overclocking!

Overclocking

In order to squeeze every single Mhz out of this Duron 850, we unlocked the multiplier by using the pencil trick (unlock your AMD CPU Guide).

And because we don’t want the cooling to act as a bottleneck, we will be using a GlobalWin FOP38 to keep the temperature on this baby as low as possible. The main reason why we’re using this cooler is because it has proven itself to be better than the competition in many tests!

After experimenting with the multipliers & FSBs, I found this cpu to be stable at an amazing 1110Mhz, or nothing less than 1.11GHz, using a multiplier of 10x with the fsb set to 111Mhz. Just one remark here is that although the CPU wouldn’t run Prime’s Lucas-Lehmer iterations @ 1.11Ghz, I experienced no crashes or BSODs during my 3DMark loops and other benchmarks. The system is currently running for almost 12 houres without a single crash, so I believe I can say the CPU is mighty stable. Off course, such speeds arent achieved with the standard core voltage of 1.6v ; the voltage needed to be set to 1.85v which is the absolute maximum setting of an Abit KT7. I also had to put the I/O voltage to 3.90v to avoide crashes caused by the RAM.

Thanks to the FOP38, the CPU ran along just fine at 44 Celcius during my 3DMark2k loops and with RC5 running the whole day. Pretty neat huh?!

Benchmarking

Test system :

- AOpen HQ45 case

- AMD Duron 850

- GlobalWin FOP38 (cooling)

- Abit KT7-RAID (WW bios)

- 128MB OCZ Value RAM

- Creative Annihilator Pro (GeForce 256 DDR)

- Western Digital 45GB UDMA100 7200rpm hard drive

Sisoft Sandra Pro

CPU Benchmark

Well, it’s obvious that the Duron 850 @ 1110Mhz kicks some serious ass!

Multimedia CPU Benchmark

The figures speak for themselves… None of the CPUs in the test can keep up with the Duron 850 @ 1110Mhz.

Memory Benchmark

Let me explain the difference in memory marks between Duron 850, the Duron 1000 and the Duron 1110. Because I used a 111Mhz FSB to achieve 1110Mhz (10x111Mhz) which is exactly the same FSB speed as I used to achieve 1000Mhz (9x111Mhz), the RAM is running at the same speed at both CPU speeds, so there isn’t a difference in raw RAM performance. The reason why the Duron 850 @ 850Mhz lies a tad behind the 1000 & 1110Mhz CPUs, is the 106Mhz FSB instead of the 111Mhz FSB.

CPU Mark 99

We can clearly notice a difference of almost 20 points between the Duron 850 and the Duron 1110. This benchmark really shows the difference in raw CPU power.

FPU Mark 99

This benchmark once again shows the true power of the Duron 1110. Man, this CPU rules big time!

Good

- Great & stable overclocking!

- Cheaper than a TBird

- Kicks his most important competitor: the Celeron

- Price/performance ratio

Bad

- None I can think of at the moment

Conclusion

It seems that AMD has AGAIN released a winner with its Duron 850. This CPU performs like a real champ (as we all expected)! When we look at the price/performance ratio, an AMD Duron CPU is also a definate winner. Like our tests have proven, this CPU passes the 1Ghz barrier with the utmost ease. In fact, the Duron 850 proved itself to be rockstable 1110Mhz… that’s 10Mhz above the 1.1Ghz barrier. Can you believe that??

Thanks to their internal 200Mhz DDR bus, these AMD CPUs manage to outperform Intel CPUs of similar speeds. Damned man, what a beast! :)