AMD Sempron 3000+ speed

[Paul Parr]

Fed up with the time it took to do video rendering, I decided to upgrade my
3yr old 1.8 GHz Athlon PC. I've built several PCs in the past but haven't
been in the market for 3 years so I visited told a local component dealer
and told them my first requirement was for a 3 GHz processor.

He sold me a Sempron 3000+, 512 MB RAM (2 x what I had before)and a Gigabyte
K8 Triton GA-K8VM800M mobo. I used my existing HDDs/DVD-RW etc but had to
get
a new case/PSU separately as he forgot to mention that 24-pin ATX was now
with us.

All went smoothly, but when I came to do video processing it took just as
long as before. A system check shows the speed is 1.8 GHz, despite the AMD
box being labelled 3000+, but I now see a tiny label on the box saying
"operates at 1800MHz".

I went back to the dealer to clarify this and to suggest they had
misrepresented the product to me, given my clear demand for a 3 GHz
processor. They told me that as 'no-one held a gun to my head' and that I
had chosen the items myself, they would not do anything about it - I wanted
to upgrade to a genuine 3 GHz CPU & mobo and was quite happy to pay the
difference. The matter has not been resolved and I'm looking for advice on
what to do either technically or consumer-wise.

The K8 BIOS allows me to alter the clock speed and I'm tempted to try
raising it to get 3 GHz, but there are warnings in the m/b manual about
possible damage to the system. Given that the AMD small-print says it
operates at 1800 MHz, is this likely?

TIA

PP

 

[Mike T.]

Fed up with the time it took to do video rendering, I decided to upgrade
my
3yr old 1.8 GHz Athlon PC. I've built several PCs in the past but haven't
been in the market for 3 years so I visited told a local component dealer
and told them my first requirement was for a 3 GHz processor.

He sold me a Sempron 3000+, 512 MB RAM (2 x what I had before)and a
Gigabyte
K8 Triton GA-K8VM800M mobo. I used my existing HDDs/DVD-RW etc but had to
get
a new case/PSU separately as he forgot to mention that 24-pin ATX was now
with us.

All went smoothly, but when I came to do video processing it took just as
long as before. A system check shows the speed is 1.8 GHz, despite the AMD
box being labelled 3000+, but I now see a tiny label on the box saying
"operates at 1800MHz".

I went back to the dealer to clarify this and to suggest they had
misrepresented the product to me, given my clear demand for a 3 GHz
processor. They told me that as 'no-one held a gun to my head' and that I
had chosen the items myself, they would not do anything about it - I
wanted
to upgrade to a genuine 3 GHz CPU & mobo and was quite happy to pay the
difference. The matter has not been resolved and I'm looking for advice on
what to do either technically or consumer-wise.

The K8 BIOS allows me to alter the clock speed and I'm tempted to try
raising it to get 3 GHz, but there are warnings in the m/b manual about
possible damage to the system. Given that the AMD small-print says it
operates at 1800 MHz, is this likely?

TIA

PP

OK, there are several issues you are dealing with. First, you need to know
that AMD processors are labelled (roughly) according to the proc. speed that
they match in similar Intel chips. So if you had a "3000+" AMD processor,
this would perform better than a 3GHz Intel processor. So the dealer
selling you a 3000+ AMD processor would have been a good thing.

HOWEVER, you bought a Sempron, which is the crippled (read: low-end, good
for email and web browsing and not much else) member of the AMD family. So
it's not surprising that you didn't get better performance for video
rendering.

I have a feeling that the component dealer is just as much of a victim here
as you are. That is, you went into the dealer not knowing what you needed.
The dealer didn't know what you needed either. So when you asked for a
specific processor, the dealer sold it to you, in spite of the fact that the
processor you asked for is NOT APPROPRIATE for it's intended use.

For what you intend to do, you need an Athlon64 CPU, preferably DUAL CORE.
You also need a LOT more RAM, preferably 2GB or more.

There are two ways you can prepare your system for video rendering:
1) Start over, build socket 939, Athlon 64, dual core (any speed),
preferably with an nvidia chipset mainboard and 1 or 2GB of DDR400 RAM (or
whatever the mainboard calls for, but MINIMUM of 1GB of RAM)
(sell any extra current components on ebay)

OR

2) The motherboard you bought actually isn't too bad. It's not
cutting-edge, but should still do video rendering OK, if properly equipped.
If you can find one, get an athlon64 chip of about 3400 or 3700, socket 754,
to replace the Sempron. Then buy a single stick of 1GB of DDR400 RAM and
install that along with your largest CURRENT stick of RAM. That way, you
end up with a little over 1GB of RAM.
(sell any extra current components on ebay)

The better approach would be plan 1 listed above. But if you aren't careful
about it, you'll have to upgrade your video card, also. (if you have the
money, there is nothing wrong with that, though) If money is tight, #2
would work OK, but it wouldn't perform nearly as well as #1. -Dave

 

[SteveH]

Fed up with the time it took to do video rendering, I decided to upgrade
my
3yr old 1.8 GHz Athlon PC. I've built several PCs in the past but haven't
been in the market for 3 years so I visited told a local component dealer
and told them my first requirement was for a 3 GHz processor.

He sold me a Sempron 3000+, 512 MB RAM (2 x what I had before)and a
Gigabyte
K8 Triton GA-K8VM800M mobo. I used my existing HDDs/DVD-RW etc but had to
get
a new case/PSU separately as he forgot to mention that 24-pin ATX was now
with us.

All went smoothly, but when I came to do video processing it took just as
long as before. A system check shows the speed is 1.8 GHz, despite the AMD
box being labelled 3000+, but I now see a tiny label on the box saying
"operates at 1800MHz".

I went back to the dealer to clarify this and to suggest they had
misrepresented the product to me, given my clear demand for a 3 GHz
processor. They told me that as 'no-one held a gun to my head' and that I
had chosen the items myself, they would not do anything about it - I
wanted
to upgrade to a genuine 3 GHz CPU & mobo and was quite happy to pay the
difference. The matter has not been resolved and I'm looking for advice on
what to do either technically or consumer-wise.

The K8 BIOS allows me to alter the clock speed and I'm tempted to try
raising it to get 3 GHz, but there are warnings in the m/b manual about
possible damage to the system. Given that the AMD small-print says it
operates at 1800 MHz, is this likely?

TIA

PP

It shouldn't have been sold to you as a 3 gig CPU. The AMD performance
rating system means that it will do as much work as an equivalent 3Ghz CPU,
not that its 3 gig.
It also appears that as socket 754 is now finished with, your dealer was
probably trying to get rid of some older stock. Unless you can get the
dealer to change the board and CPU, I would see if he has a proper Athlon 64
3200 or similar, which will at least be better than the Sempron.

And while you may be able to clock that CPU to 3Ghz, it would require much
tweaking, possibly different memory and some SERIOUS cooling. And of course,
you'll have no warranty.

SteveH

 

[spodosaurus]

Fed up with the time it took to do video rendering, I decided to upgrade my
3yr old 1.8 GHz Athlon PC.

Is it a 1.8GHz CPU, or is it an 1800+ CPU?

I've built several PCs in the past but haven't
been in the market for 3 years

Then you should be very well aware of the AMD labelling, unless you're
just jamming parts together and hoping for the best. Just because you
can fit tab A into slot B doesn't mean you have any clue what you are
doing. Next time, try putting in the effort to understand something
before openning your mouth and your wallet.

so I visited told a local component dealer
and told them my first requirement was for a 3 GHz processor.

I wonder what you actually said while you were in there...

He sold me a Sempron 3000+, 512 MB RAM (2 x what I had before)and a Gigabyte
K8 Triton GA-K8VM800M mobo. I used my existing HDDs/DVD-RW etc but had to
get
a new case/PSU separately as he forgot to mention that 24-pin ATX was now
with us.

All went smoothly, but when I came to do video processing it took just as
long as before. A system check shows the speed is 1.8 GHz, despite the AMD
box being labelled 3000+, but I now see a tiny label on the box saying
"operates at 1800MHz".

I went back to the dealer to clarify this and to suggest they had
misrepresented the product to me, given my clear demand for a 3 GHz
processor.

No, the CPU processes at a speed equivalent to a comparable intel 3GHz
CPU. If you wanted fast, you shouldn't have chosen the cheap
celeron/sempron option.

They told me that as 'no-one held a gun to my head' and that I
had chosen the items myself,

So you just went in without doing research or knowing what you were
talking about, and they assumed you did know what you were talking about
because you deliberately gave them that impression...

they would not do anything about it - I wanted
to upgrade to a genuine 3 GHz CPU & mobo and was quite happy to pay the
difference. The matter has not been resolved and I'm looking for advice on
what to do either technically or consumer-wise.

The K8 BIOS allows me to alter the clock speed and I'm tempted to try
raising it to get 3 GHz,

That would be even more stupid.

but there are warnings in the m/b manual about
possible damage to the system. Given that the AMD small-print says it
operates at 1800 MHz, is this likely?

It probably won't even POST.

 

[John Weiss]

All went smoothly, but when I came to do video processing it took just as
long as before. A system check shows the speed is 1.8 GHz, despite the AMD
box being labelled 3000+, but I now see a tiny label on the box saying
"operates at 1800MHz".

AMD has been using the 'Intel equivalent' rating for quite some time now. It
should not be new news to you if you had been following the market at all.

I went back to the dealer to clarify this and to suggest they had
misrepresented the product to me, given my clear demand for a 3 GHz
processor. They told me that as 'no-one held a gun to my head' and that I
had chosen the items myself, they would not do anything about it - I wanted
to upgrade to a genuine 3 GHz CPU & mobo and was quite happy to pay the
difference. The matter has not been resolved and I'm looking for advice on
what to do either technically or consumer-wise.

It appears you have a Socket 754 system, since the Sempron 3000+ is available
only in Socket 754 and Socket A. The fastest Socket 754 Sempron is the 3400+ at
2 GHz. Even the top-of-the-line Socket 939 FX60 runs at 2.6 GHz!

The only 3 GHz AMD CPUs are the BRAND NEW Socket 940 Opteron x56 series! Are
you REALLY willing to pay $1200 for the CPU alone, plus a new MoBo?

If you want reduced performance by going to an Intel "genuine 3 GHz CPU," I
suppose that might be an option. However, since you bought a 1.8 GHz Sempron to
replace a 1.8 GHz Athlon, you might do a bit of research first. Go to the Intel
and AMD sites, as well as tomshardware.com to start.

The K8 BIOS allows me to alter the clock speed and I'm tempted to try
raising it to get 3 GHz, but there are warnings in the m/b manual about
possible damage to the system. Given that the AMD small-print says it
operates at 1800 MHz, is this likely?

Yes, damage is likely.

 

[JAD]

AMD has been using the 'Intel equivalent' rating for quite some time now. It
should not be new news to you if you had been following the market at all.



It appears you have a Socket 754 system, since the Sempron 3000+ is available
only in Socket 754 and Socket A. The fastest Socket 754 Sempron is the 3400+ at
2 GHz. Even the top-of-the-line Socket 939 FX60 runs at 2.6 GHz!

The only 3 GHz AMD CPUs are the BRAND NEW Socket 940 Opteron x56 series! Are
you REALLY willing to pay $1200 for the CPU alone, plus a new MoBo?

If you want reduced performance by going to an Intel "genuine 3 GHz CPU," I
suppose that might be an option.

I was reading this just to find this line.....never fails, reduced
INDEED..<<<<snicker>>>>




However, since you bought a 1.8 GHz Sempron to

 

[Paul Parr]

Thanks for the replies, the analytical and constructive ones were very
helpful. I haven't yet decided what to do.
I hope those who chose to sneer feel suitably self-satisfied.
PP

 

[Gert Elstermann]

Thanks for the replies, the analytical and constructive ones were very
helpful. I haven't yet decided what to do.

....

So you may also take into consideration the AMD AM2 line of CPUs going
to be presented the 23rd, probably; the AM2 mainboards are ready, too
- see, e.g., <http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2292>.


Gert

 

[Squibbly]

Fed up with the time it took to do video rendering, I decided to upgrade
my
3yr old 1.8 GHz Athlon PC. I've built several PCs in the past but haven't
been in the market for 3 years so I visited told a local component dealer
and told them my first requirement was for a 3 GHz processor.

He sold me a Sempron 3000+, 512 MB RAM (2 x what I had before)and a
Gigabyte
K8 Triton GA-K8VM800M mobo. I used my existing HDDs/DVD-RW etc but had to
get
a new case/PSU separately as he forgot to mention that 24-pin ATX was now
with us.

All went smoothly, but when I came to do video processing it took just as
long as before. A system check shows the speed is 1.8 GHz, despite the AMD
box being labelled 3000+, but I now see a tiny label on the box saying
"operates at 1800MHz".

I went back to the dealer to clarify this and to suggest they had
misrepresented the product to me, given my clear demand for a 3 GHz
processor. They told me that as 'no-one held a gun to my head' and that I
had chosen the items myself, they would not do anything about it - I
wanted
to upgrade to a genuine 3 GHz CPU & mobo and was quite happy to pay the
difference. The matter has not been resolved and I'm looking for advice on
what to do either technically or consumer-wise.

The K8 BIOS allows me to alter the clock speed and I'm tempted to try
raising it to get 3 GHz, but there are warnings in the m/b manual about
possible damage to the system. Given that the AMD small-print says it
operates at 1800 MHz, is this likely?

TIA

PP

the amd cpu tend to run at a lower frequency as you now know. im told that
regardless that amd actually runs faster than intel which is weird

 

[Michael Hawes]

the amd cpu tend to run at a lower frequency as you now know. im told that
regardless that amd actually runs faster than intel which is weird

You can overclock your CPU, at your own risk (that will invalidate your
warranty). You have NOT been mis-sold, as a Sempron 3000+ is close to a 3GHz
Celeron in performance. You could have spent 20% more and got a 3400+ which
would be 13% faster. Check memory used in Task Manager, you may benefit from
an extra 512Mb of RAM.
Mike.

 

[Mike T.]

the amd cpu tend to run at a lower frequency as you now know. im told that
regardless that amd actually runs faster than intel which is weird

Not wierd at all. AMD procs. tend to be more robust designs than Intel, so
they don't need high clock speeds to perform as much work as Intel procs.
do. It's like a V8 engine vs. an I4 engine . . . both are good designs, but
the I4 needs higher revs. to get the job done. The V8 can maintain
relatively low RPMs and still move the car quite nicely. -Dave