Old CPU Comparison

[chaosrain]

I have a super-cheap friend who is getting a free PIII, he's currently running an old Sempron setup and though he believes he's getting an upgrade, I think he's getting less than he already has. Can anyone direct me to a CPU chart which will allow me to compare OLD processors?

 

[dahacker]

I have a super-cheap friend who is getting a free PIII, he's currently running an old Sempron setup and though he believes he's getting an upgrade, I think he's getting less than he already has. Can anyone direct me to a CPU chart which will allow me to compare OLD processors?

I believe Pentium IIIs were retired well before any Sempron was even offered. So its unlikely you will find both of them together on any benchmark chart. Plus there are a thousand versions of each.

 

[mrreality13]

what are the specs of both?mhz?fsb?cashe?
what mb's will he be using and will he oc?

 

[MU_Engineer]

Here are all of the Sempron generations. The chip was debuted in 2004 to replace the Duron.

Gen 1
Core: Thoroughbred-B/Thorton K7
Process: 130nm
Socket: A (462)
L2: 256KB
Clock: 1.50-2.00 GHz
FSB: 166 MHz (333 effective)

Gen 2
Core: Barton K7
Process: 130nm
Socket: A (462)
L2: 512KB
Clock: 2.00-2.20 GHz
FSB: 166-200 MHz (333-400 effective)

Gen 3
Core: Paris K8
Process: 130nm SOI
Socket: 754
L2: 256KB
Clock: 1.80 GHz
HTT: 1600 MHz
IMC: DDR 400 single-channel

Gen 4
Core: Palermo K8
L2: 128 or 256KB
Process: 90nm SOI
Socket: 754 (a few 939s were OEM models)
Clock: 1.40-2.00 GHz
HTT: 1600 MHz
IMC: DDR 400 single channel

Gen 5
Core: Manila K8
L2: 128 or 256KB
Process: 90nm SOI
Socket: AM2
Clock: 1.60-2.00 GHz
HTT: 1600 MHz
IMC: DDR2-667 dual-channel

Now lets look at the PIIIs:

Gen 1
Core: Katmai
L2: 512KB off-chip at half core clock
Process: 250nm
Socket: Slot 1
Clock: 450-600 MHz
FSB: 100 or 133 MHz

Gen 2
Core: Coppermine
L2: 256KB
Process: 180nm
Socket: Slot 1 or Socket 370
Clock: 550-1000 MHz (1.13 GHz model made, recalled.)
FSB: 100 or 133 MHz.

Gen 3
Core: Tualatin
L2: 256 or 512KB
Process: 130nm
Socket: 370
Clock: 1.00-1.40 GHz
FSB: 133 MHz

Now looking at this, it would take the fastest Tualatin (not that common) to beat the slowest Socket A Sempron. Odds are that the PIII isn't the fastest Tualatin but likely a ~1GHz Coppermine and the Sempron is a little faster than the slowest 1.5GHz. So he would be doing himself a disservice by trading a 2-year-old and faster Sempron for a 6-year-old Pentium III.

 

[vimka]

The earliest Semprons were based on the Athlon XP, which competed with the Pentium 4. So your friend will be getting a pretty serious downgrade.

The Semprons use DDR-333, the Pentium 3 uses PC-133.

The Semprons clock speed starts around 1.4 - 1.6 GHz, the Pentium 3 topped out around 1.2 GHz

The Semprons FSB is 166 MHz x2 (effective 333 MHz), the Pentium 3 was either 100 MHz or 133 MHz, depending on the specific one.

The Sempron can be easily overclocked to 400 MHz FSB, by the way.

In short, Sempron > P3.

 

[vimka]

You beat me to it