Athlon 64 x2 are dual-core microprocessors best suited for
running multiple applications on one computer. "X2" part in name is
easy to explain - these processors incorporate two Athlon 64 cores on
one die, hence it's an Athlon 64 x2. Having two-cores on one die comes
at a price, though:
- X2 processors have much bigger die size - 218 mm2 for 0.09 micron
processors with 1 MB L2 cache. For comparison, Athlon 64 with 1 MB L2
cache has almost two times smaller die size (112.9 mm2).
- Power consumption of two-core CPU is higher. For example, socket AM2
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ has Thermal Design Power 89 Watt, which is 27 Watt more
than TDP of Athlon 64 3800+.
Athlon 64 X2 microprocessors have model numbers that show relative
performance of the CPU. Because model numbers are calculated based
on average of wide range of benchmarks, actual processor performance
may differ for Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 X2 processors that have the same
model number:
- X2 microprocessors will be faster than single-core Athlon 64 when
running multiple applications.
- Single-core CPUs may be faster when running single-threaded
programs. This happens because dual-core processors have lower
frequency of each core, and, if the application doesn't utilize
second core at all, the X2 CPU performs as single-core Athlon 64
running at lower frequency.
|
The smallest Athlon 64 X2 cpu is 3600+
I think there is only one difference between 3600+ and 3800+ that 3600+ has only 2x256KB L2 cache. Frequency is same (2GHz).