How does the T-bird compare to the Athlon

[Guest]

Hello I am looking into building a new computer, I want it to be AMD and am trying to find out the differences between the Athlon and the T-Bird. I believe that the cahce is different but I am loooking for more info than that ie how it will effect performance, is one better for certain apps than the other. Any info will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks James

 

[TazMo]

T-bird was the codename of the latest version/improvement of the Athlon. Most people use the names interchangeably. The most important improvement to the Athlon was in that the L2cache was moved onto the chip and is able to run at full processor speed. Original Athlons had there L2cache off die and set to run at either half or a third of the processor speed. L2 cache is the second closest memory space the CPU can receive instructions from, if that responds faster, then the overall system can run faster. So system performance in ALL areas improves. I believe that all SocketA Athlons are T-birds where as, I think, the SlotA Athlons are not.

 

[Guest]

If you'd like to compare the performance of different cpu's check out this page. http://www.cpuscorecard.com/
The same speed Tbird/Athlon will always post a higher benchmark than a similar speed 'regular' Athlon.
This page also keeps a updated performance/price ratio winner reference.