Advantages: Low prices
Disadvantages: -

..., to the detriment of consumers. PR ratings are supposed to rate to an equivalent Intel chip - ie a Cyrix processor running at 120Mhz was supposed to perform the same as a Pentium 166, but unfortunately this was not the case. Don't be fooled into thinking however that the new AMD ratings are the same though. An Athlon XP1900 (actual clock speed 1.6GHz) is actually a direct comparison to the older Athlon and not the Pentium4. What AMD says is that if they were to continue manufacturing AMD processors based on the Thunderbird core (0.18 micron and no SSE2 instructions) then to reach AthlonXP performance would mean it would have to be clocked at 1.9Ghz. Due to the die shrink (down to 0.15 micron) and the addition of SSE2 instructions, it 'only' needs to run at 1.6Ghz to reach the equivalent performance. Confused? So are many people. That is what AMD... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cheap, Reliable, AMD
Disadvantages: Slowish compared to better CPUs

...becausw of the lower clock speed! this is why we get AMD Sempron 2800+ with a clock speed of 1.66ghz, The 2800+ merely indicates that this would outperform (hence the (+) at the end of the figures) an equivalent processor running at 2.8ghz. These rpcoessors are plug in and play, simply drop the processor into the socket, pull down the lever and clip on the heatsink and fan and there it is! Instructions do come with these processors if you buy the Retail Pack, the instructions have full colour step by step guides, you can;t go wrong! Intel are mass marketed and mainstream, TV adverts the lot, AMD....no, AMD processors are bought, used by people who are in the know how and don't need to rely on mass marketing schemes. This processor in particular is very nice. at 1.66ghz and 2800+ it allows applications to open and run rather quickly... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cheap and fast compared to equivalent Intel chip
Disadvantages: Heat

...Ok, so when most people hear that I built my own computer with an AMD processor, they think whats an AMD, is it some cheap, slow, downmarket Intel? No. Reasons for buying - Most AMD processors are bought by more computer knowledgeable people, as they can make an AMD achieve what no pentium can do - overclocking. The other reasons why people buy the AMD's, is because of their speed, and low price. Speed - AMD Processors are classified by their equivalent Intel processors, so an AMD XP1800+ can do tasks at the same speed as a 1800MHz Intel processor, and an AMD XP2200+ can do tasks at the same speed as a 2200MHz Intel Pentium 4. Actual speeds of AMD's are different however to what their name suggests. An XP1800+ runs at 1.533GHz, and an XP2200+ runs at only 1.8GHz. It is the quality and caching on AMD boards however, that allow... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Budget, Low Heating, Less Power Consumption, 64 Bit Architecture, Solid Built Quality, High Performance
Disadvantages: None in particular

...AMD Sempron 2800+ code name PALERMO [Socket 754] ~1.60GHz [1600MHz] is a 64 Bit affordable and high performance processor from AMD Corp. Having 256 KB L2 Cache and 800MHz [*8x] HyperTransot running at 1.40 volt, it is suitable for all everyday work and gaming too. AMD Sempron 2800+ is based on AMD x8664 architecture supporting MMX, Enhanced 3d Now, SSE, SSE2 and NX Bit. It support 64 Bit Operating systems and applications. We can extract the maximum performance from this processor if we use a 64 Bit Operating System with it. It doesn't heat up as AMD's older processors. I run Kubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04 x64 having this processor and a 768 MB of DDR 400MHz RAM and its giving me much more than enough. It can serve you as good as an Intel 2GHz processor. If you are interested ina budget 64 bit processor and good performance then its for you... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cool, quiet and powerful
Disadvantages: soon to be replaced

...with the side panel off. The fan is controlled through the bios, so it will frequently stop for 2 and 3 minutes at a time! Then maybe only come on for a minute or so to cool off. This is really a brilliant piece of engineering, AMD have heard the cries of the modern market, and responded perfectly. I’ve talked briefly about the power these processors have, let me expand on this. Although this is called the AMD 64 3400, it actually runs at 2.2ghz. Many people used to simply look at the MHz rating of a processor and decide on that, but there is much more to it than this. If AMD had simply posted the true speed of the processors, they would have seemed inferior to Intel, because at the moment there’s nothing from AMD above the 2.4 GHz mark(2400MHz). Yet this processor really challenges the top Intel processors. If you consider... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cool Quiet and fast
Disadvantages: about to be changed

...with the side panel off. The fan is controlled through the bios, so it will frequently stop for 2 and 3 minutes at a time! Then maybe only come on for a minute or so to cool off. This is really a brilliant piece of engineering, AMD have heard the cries of the modern market, and responded perfectly. I’ve talked briefly about the power these processors have, let me expand on this. Although this is called the AMD 64 3400, it actually runs at 2.2ghz. Many people used to simply look at the MHz rating of a processor and decide on that, but there is much more to it than this. If AMD had simply posted the true speed of the processors, they would have seemed inferior to Intel, because at the moment there’s nothing from AMD above the 2.4 GHz mark(2400MHz). Yet this processor really challenges the top Intel processors. If you consider... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Fast, cheap, easy to upgrade
Disadvantages: Not Intel - Is that really a problem

...their products at work, and haven't looked back. --- Why "1800+" and what happened to MHz and GHz numbers? --- Intel have been numbering their processors and measuring their power in terms of Megaherts and Gigaherts (MHz and GHz). Until recently, so did the other chip makers. More recently, AMD realised that a processor from Intel labelled "1.8GHz" was only as powerful as an AMD chip labelled "1.6GHz" - An unfair comarison. AMD quite sensibly under the circumstances decided to start labelling their chips differently. An 1800+ is claimed to be equivalent to or better that an 1800MHz (1.8GHz Pentium IV processor) - So far their claims have proven broadly accurate. --- Overall --- Yippee! Wow! Super! Smashing! No regrets at-all. To do the upgrade myself, I had to buy: 1 x AthlonXP CPU (1800+ model.) 1 x Matching CPU fan 1 x Motherboard which... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Warranty, Easy Install, Very Quick, Inexpensive, Overclockable
Disadvantages: Can't think of any

...will hear about in a bit) and quieter than most mainstream heatsinks. The installation is simple enough as thet provide a foldout leaflet with step by step instructions with photos and in different languages. Simply pop the processor in the correct way round, clamp it in, hook over both ends of the heatsink and flip the lever over and lock to firmly affix the heatsink, thats it!!!! Now I mentioned about how good the heatsink is with cooling, thats not the half of it. The processor itself is very overclockable. At correct settings it runs at 1.8GHz. A chap on gladiators forums posted, with a CPU-Z screenshot how he clocked the core speed up to 2.5GHz (yes thats an extra 700MHz) on the original packaged AMD heatsink, no water cooling, no special thermal past other than what was on the original heatsink and the heatsink is still cold enough... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: powerful, cheap, stable
Disadvantages: none

...Having had an AMD chip in my last machine (Athlon 1.1Ghz) I have been impressed over the past 3 years as to the stability and consistency of the processor. I have never really had any major problems with the processor - apart from the processor fan failing - and, therefore, decided to stick with AMD for an upgrade. I had a good look around, and decide on the 2600+ chipset with the 333 FSB. This will (with the correct motherboard) allow the use of DDR400 RAM which leads to performance gains. The chip itself only set me back £75 (PC World Component Centre), and along with a new motherboard, memory (512Mb) and a new 450 power supply, the entire upgrade cost me around £350. Now, considering that a new machine would have cost me in the region of £1500 upwards, this worked out as a very good solution. Since purchasing the new equipment... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: cheap, reliable, clockable
Disadvantages: stlii quite slow

...at 182Mhz. If you plan to do this I would strongly recommend extra cooling, I have 3 case fans and a huge CPU fan to keep it all cool. Even at this speed it still operates at around 75-85 degrees celsius even when at 100% for long periods of time. Reliability I have never had a problem with this processor and it does take a lot, this is why I have always used AMD and probably always will. The only reason I would change this one is for an AMD 3200 Athlon because even with overclocking you can only take it so far! Definately recommended!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful