Supplied by AMD

The last of the Thoroughbreds

The AMD Athlon MP 2600+ may mark the last of the MP Thoroughbreds but AMD is
definitely running one of their favorite horses fast in the last turn. The MP
2600+ pegs an impressive 2133 MHz or 2.13 GHz and is the fourth in the line
of the 0.13 Micron MP processors.

The Athlon MP 2600+ runs a mere 34 MHz behind the rather speedy and currently
available 2700+ XP. To the dual processor enthusiast this is almost nirvana;
big horsepower at cheaper than the competition prices.

AMD is slugging it out in the dual processor market and so often they jeer
from outside the ring while rival INTEL shadowboxes awaiting a worthy opponent.
The AMD MP processors have been tweaked, reborn, remade and price reduced like
an onslaught of pesky arrows in the side of goliath INTEL.

“What isn’t there not to understand!” exclaim many
AMD supporters. In their eyes AMD is the answer punch vs. punch and, especially,
price vs. price. AMD processors are cheaper…period. The buying public still
clings to the notion that more GHz is better and AMD enthusiasts and AMD themselves
answer back with benchmark after benchmark showing otherwise.

The AMD Athlon 2600+ MP moves 133 MHz beyond its older brother 2400+ (2.0 GHz)
and to those that rely on and love dual processor systems…every “megahertz
inch” counts. The basics of the processor haven’t changed too much except
for the obvious speed increase.

The following is from the AMD
press factory.

The key features of the AMD Athlon MP processors are:

• AMD Smart MP technology
• 266 MHz high-speed AMD Athlon MP front-side bus with ECC Support
• High-performance, full-speed on-chip cache (354K total full-speed cache
  size)
• Socket A infrastructure
• AMD 3DNow!™ Professional technology (70 instructions, full SSE
  compatibility)
• AMD QuantiSpeed™ architecture

Smart MP Technology

Smart MP technology features dual point-to-point, high-speed system buses,
an optimized “MOESI” cache coherency protocol, which manages data
and memory traffic, as well as innovative “snoop” buses, which offer
high-speed communication between the CPUs in a multiprocessing system. Smart
MP technology is designed to optimize the execution of multi-threaded, mission-critical
applications empowering your server and workstation platforms to achieve new
levels of productivity.

QuantiSpeed™ architecture

QuantiSpeed™ architecture is an easy-to-understand name that encompasses
the AMD Athlon MP processor’s core architectural features, and explains
to end users how the AMD Athlon MP processor provides superior application performance.

Specifically, QuantiSpeed architecture incorporates:

• Nine-Issue, fully pipelined, superscalar micro-architecture
• Superscalar, fully pipelined floating point unit (FPU)
• Hardware Data PreFetch
• Exclusive & Speculative Translation Look-Aside Buffers (TLB)

The look before the leap

MP or not to MP?…that is the question. This carries many answers. Dual processors
are designed for workstations and servers. To use an analogy they aren’t jet
dragsters that go blasting down the quarter mile. It’s better to think of them
as powerful pickup trucks with beefy towing packages that go blasting down the
quarter mile…just a few hundredths of a second behind the XP top fuelers.

It’s true that a single XP processor will edge out a dual MP processor in non-SMP
optimized benchmarks. Once SMP-aware software is used the story changes. Dual
processors can make short work of a CPU intensive task such as rendering CAD
drawings, 3D animations and data basing. I, for one, am looking forward to leaping
up another rung or three of MHz after having worked on dual Xeon 500’s that
pick along at a 3D render at a pace that growing grass can beat. I’ve even locked
horns on the sub-2 GHz front between the AMD 2100+ MP and the competition.

Dual processors aren’t for everyone but those in the IT world are more than
aware of the benefits of a strong dual processor platform when it comes to delivering
the goods. The digital design world will also gain from the 2600+ MP as when
speed matters, dollar for dollar, the AMD MP processor delivers more “wallop”

The advantages and benefits of dual processor systems are plentiful. AMD has
been the reason why they are affordable. Competition breeds better pricing.

No more MPs?

There may be no more Thoroughbred MP processors as the AMD roadmap points out.
BARTON could take up the race for future MP processors. (Note the codename of
ATHENS in the first half of 2004 for the Opteron processor.)

This is also a very important transition time as well. Athlon 64 and Opteron
are on the horizon. Opteron will launch in April or thereabouts while Athlon
64 will pop its chipper face into our lives sometime in the fall of 2003. This
may be the “look before they leap” hesitation that a dual processor
system buyer may experience.

Why buy now when 64-bit dual, quad or octo-Opterons are “just around the
corner”. That’s a good question and there is nothing like the feeling you
are buying outdated technology. This is just not true. Read Icrontic’s 64-BITS
SIMPLIFIED for a complete breakdown of what Athlon 64 and Opteron may mean
to you. 64-bit processors used to be for the financially extravagant. They were
hardly mainstream. It appears that 64-bit processing led by Opteron could surge
into the market. This makes IT folks both giddy and worrisome. It’s a bit of
a catch-22. “Look what it can do!” vs. “How do we do it?”

To summarize new technology such as Athlon 64 and Opteron bring exciting changes
but these take time to implement, develop and perfect. Your need may be now.
You need to deliver performance, reliability and stability at a competitive
price today. Athlon MP may be that “right now” answer for today and
a few tomorrows until Opteron systems start making their way to Dell, HP, Gateway
or even…Walmart.

Then what about Barton MP?

That’s another good question and the answer will depend on the market demand,
competitive pressure and how quickly AMD can ramp up Opteron. Remember that
Athlon 64 and Opteron are 32-bit and 64-bit compatible. Athlon 64 and Opteron
will work with today’s software and tomorrow’s 64-bit solutions. Ask the competition
that same question and see if there is a definitive yes.

There is also the Microsoft equation and what advantages, challenges and frustrations
that a 64-bit desktop may bring.

AMD is banking on their current Thoroughbred MP solutions: 2000+, 2200+, 2400+
and the new 2600+. BARTON MP processor solutions may end up waiting in the wings
like an understudy while Athlon 64 and Opteron ready to take the stage. BARTON
XP is an entirely different story.

AMD Supplied Benchmarks

AMD has released three benchmarks with the 2600+ MP.

The 2600+ MP processor shows a 5% gain over its predecessor and the INTEL XEON
at 2.6 GHz. As only a ballpark we estimate that our Palomino core 2100+ MP processors
will be bested by 10-15%. That could mean shaving 5-7 minutes off our own Softimage
test which completes in 43 minutes for a 100 frame render. (This is only a guesstimate)

For complete details on the testing hardware and benchmark details visit the
AMD website.

Pricing

AMD
processor pricing has the 2600+ MP at $273 USD for quantities of $1000.
Icrontic does our own current MP price checks and predictions for what OEM 2600+
MPs could cost. All OEM prices gathered from Pricewatch.com and Pricenetwork.ca.

** reviewers estimate/opinion only and does
not reflect true pricing.

Conclusion

This particular launch may be the close of the Athlon MP chapter
but make no mistake that very few will scoff at the Thoroughbreds named MP.

For more information click on the AMD logo or visit the following
links. AMD, AMD
Press, Athlon
MP Servers, and Athlon
MP Workstations. Also read Short-Media’s 64-Bits
Simplified for simple answers to Athlon/Opteron and you.

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