i'm lost now... how many types of processors are there these days???

[zskillz]

last summer I was on top of everything that was out there, but I haven't been keeping up totally, and i really am lost when it comes to picking what the best type of processor out there is anymore...

I would appreciate if anyone could list all the types of processors (athlon, pII/III, etc.) that are around these days and the benefits/cons of each one....

now if you have a link that already does this, that is probably better, but i would really appreciate the help with this one because the myriad of possibilities has left me somewhat lost!

thanks
-Z

[Wiz]

I will list only the most up to date.
AMD
Athlon
K6-2
K6-3
Duron

Intel
P2
P3 katmai
P3 coppermine
celeron
celeron 2

[zskillz]

thx Wiz,

the biggest part of what i'm looking for here is what type of connection (that's not the right word) that each of those listed types of processors has...

for instance, I understand that celeron is S370, but what is the FCPGA stuff all about?
(and is there anything else that's new like the fcpga stuff?)
-Z

[OuTpaTienT]

In order of best to not-best for each manufacturer:

AMD
Thunderbird (w/512k full speed on die cache) Slot-A(few) & Socket-A
Duron (w/64k full speed on die cache) Slot-A(few) & Socket-A
Athlon classic (512k cache off-die at 1/2, 2/5, or 1/3 full speed) Slot-A
K6-3 Socket-7
K6-2 Socket-7

Intel
PIII CopperMine EB (on a 133mhz bus) Socket 370 (maybe Slot-1 too...?)
PIII CopperMine E (on a 100mhz bus) Slot-1 & Socket 370
Celeron 2 Socket 370 (maybe Slot-1 too...?)
Celeron Slot-1 & Socket 370

Currently, each company's flagship CPU is virtually neck'n'neck in the benchmarks...well actually depending on who you believe, the Thunderbird is anywhere from equal to quite a bit faster than Intels best PIII. But a few points here or there in a benchmark is no way to choose a processor.

I'll go see if I can dig up some decent links to help ya get "back in the groove."


[This message has been edited by OuTpaTienT (edited 06-24-2000).]

[zskillz]

now this question arose for me earlier when I built my own computer, and I decided that since i was overclocking it, the lowest bus possible was the best.

I just don't understand what the point of running on the 133 mhz bus is. (except for the increase in heat)

i know this is a bit of a tangent, but I think that it applies to the topic at hand...

-Z

[Dputiger]

The faster FSB is a big part of why the Duron and Pentium III are faster than the Celeron (I'm not dealing with cache here).

The Celeron moves data across the board at 66 Mhz, the older Pentium's and the Duron move it at 100 Mhz, and the T-bird and the high-end Pentium's move at 200 Mhz and 133 Mhz, respectively. This speed directly affects how fast the entire board is running. Cache still makes a difference--but compare a Celeron Occed to 100 to a Celeron running at 66 Mhz sometime--the difference is dramatic.

[jad1097]

The Duron runs at 200MHZ FSB the same as the Thunderbird.

"the AMD Duron (http://www.amd.com/news/prodpr/20109.html) processor features a sophisticated cache architecture with 192KB of total on-chip cache; a high-speed 200MHz front-side bus, and a superscalar floating point unit with enhanced 3DNow!™ technology"

[This message has been edited by jad1097 (edited 06-24-2000).]

[Rmaker]

Well, as you with the technology used in these types of cpu's the faster the bus the faster the cpu will run (leaving the other parameters aside cache etc...) u c transfer rate is important.