More 3400+ and Value

More 3400+

The new Athlon 64 3400+ runs at 2.2GHz, the same speed as AMD’s current flagship Athlon 64 FX-51. Given the latter’s advantages we wouldn’t expect the former to one-up the FX. However, applications that don’t rely on memory performance may paint the two processors in a very similar light given their clock speed parity.

This, in turn, sets up a very interesting comparison between the Athlon 64 3400+ and Athlon 64 FX-51. On one hand, the Socket 754 interface will persist for quite a while; AMD’s roadmap is neatly laid out until 2005 with a 90nm SOI core called Winchester carrying the Athlon 64 load. There is also speculation about a Socket 754 variant of the Athlon XP armed with 256KB of cache and an integrated memory controller. The upgrade path for anyone looking to buy a Socket 754 path is somewhat more secure than the future of Socket 940.

AMDs upcoming roadmap

On the other hand, it’s a little tougher to forecast AMD’s Athlon 64 FX plans. Sure, San Diego and Toledo are set to take the powerhouse through 2005, but there isn’t any evidence that the Socket 940 interface will last that long. In other words, if you buy an FX today, you might find yourself out of upgrade options in six months or whenever demand for Socket 939 processors sways AMD away from supporting the limited number of early adopters who’ve jumped on the flagship chip. Then again, if you have $700+ to spend on an FX, you might be ready for an entirely new computer in a year, anyway.

Value

Where, then, does the Athlon 64 3400+ rank on our value scale? Considering its pedigree, the 3400+ is actually priced very competitively. AMD has the chip pegged at $417 in 1,000 unit quantities, but it will undoubtedly surface for less than that online. Intel’s 3.2GHz Pentium 4 costs about $400, and the Athlon 64 FX-51 is still at about $750. Relatively speaking, an Athlon 64 3400+ priced just above $400 dollars is very compelling if it can get to within five or 10 percent of the current FX’s performance. Plus, when you consider that a Socket 754 motherboard costs almost $100 dollars less than a comparably equipped Socket 940 board and a gigabyte of registered DDR400 carries roughly a $50 price premium, AMD’s latest release looks even better.