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Hardware AMD Athlon X2 BE-Series Hits Retail
Anh Tuan Huynh (Blog) - July 13, 2007 2:00 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 41 comment(s) - last by kenji4life.. on Jul 17 at 3:26 PM
Over a month later, customers can purchase the 45-watt processors

AMD’s Athlon X2 BE-series processors have hit retail. AMD announced two Athlon X2 BE-series processors early last month, but the processors were absent from retail channels. Over a month later, the Athlon BE-series processors have begun showing up on Newegg. Newegg offers the Athlon X2 BE-2300 and BE-2350 for $89.50 and $95 USD, respectively.

The AMD Athlon X2 BE-series, based around Brisbane, offers lower thermal ratings at 45-watts. Besides the lower thermal ratings, the Athlon X2 BE-series is nearly identical to the Athlon 64 X2 Brisbane models, with 2x512KB of L2 cache, 2000 MHz HyperTransport speed and AMD Virtualization technology.

AMD has only officially announced the Athlon X2 BE-2350 and BE-2300, clocked at 2.1 GHz and 1.9 GHz. However, AMD plans to release a third model, the 2.3 GHz Athlon X2 BE-2400 in August, with the same 45-watt thermal ratings.

AMD plans to replace the Athlon X2 Brisbane-based processors with Rana early next year. Rana transitions the Athlon X2 to the Socket AM2+ platform with HyperTransport 3.0. Rana will have a short life-span, being replaced by Regor in 2H’08. Regor adds support for DDR3 memory and compatibility with AMD’s upcoming Socket AM3 platform.

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OC?
By puffpio on 7/13/2007 2:41:10 PM , Rating: 2
In general do these low power chips overclock well?




RE: OC?
By azrael201 on 7/13/2007 2:50:12 PM , Rating: 2
does not translate if we look at how the lower wattage versions of AMD's chips (ie 3800) performed

until tested i doubt this will be a wonder OC


RE: OC?
By mdogs444 on 7/13/2007 3:27:08 PM , Rating: 3
Actually the new F3 revision of the 3800 X2's are clocking like crazy. UP to 3.3GHz on air, 3.8GHz on water in some places. 3.0+ GHz on air w/ a 3600/3800 X2 is actually very common. Considering a %50 overclock, id have to say that its rather impressive and that they do overclock well.


RE: OC?
By coldpower27 on 7/13/2007 10:52:03 PM , Rating: 3
Which aren't Brisbanes...


RE: OC?
By tdawg on 7/13/2007 2:51:47 PM , Rating: 2
I think it was over at the tech report where I read that they hit 3ghz with the 2350 quite easily.


RE: OC?
By tdawg on 7/13/2007 2:58:03 PM , Rating: 4
RE: OC?
By kenji4life on 7/13/2007 3:33:56 PM , Rating: 2
I have my 65w 4400+ at 2.8 ghz passively cooled (Just HS)
I'm sure I could get above 3 ghz but I don't care for adding noise to my system.


RE: OC?
By Comdrpopnfresh on 7/13/2007 6:44:05 PM , Rating: 2
I hope they don't overclock as crappily as the first 65nm x2's did


RE: OC?
By mdogs444 on 7/13/2007 6:51:46 PM , Rating: 2
The F1 revision didnt clock well. The F2 was much better, with the average around 2.6-2.7. The new F3 (look for CZBOX) is hitting up to 3.3 on air, 3.8 on water. However, YMMV, but it is very common to see the new X2's breaking the 3.0+GHz barrier.


RE: OC?
By jhtrico1850 on 7/14/2007 5:08:54 PM , Rating: 2
Aren't Fx 90nm while Gx is 65nm?


I'm so confused!
By 9nails on 7/13/2007 11:37:38 PM , Rating: 2
Why can't they just release the CPU as "AMD Good", "AMD Better", and "AMD Best."

I'm so tired of hundreds of CPU flavors, each with different pin and chipset requirements. Each with different power spec's and levels of performance. Ugh. It's impossible to keep up with all these different cores! Cities, lakes, rivers... What ever - I just want to check my email or play a game!




RE: I'm so confused!
By Omega215D on 7/14/2007 12:31:14 AM , Rating: 3
I would lean more toward the AMD Ultimate with the Hector Ruiz autographed CPU box.


RE: I'm so confused!
By kenji4life on 7/14/2007 12:11:32 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
Why can't they just release the CPU as "AMD Good", "AMD Better", and "AMD Best."

I'm so tired of hundreds of CPU flavors, each with different pin and chipset requirements. Each with different power spec's and levels of performance. Ugh. It's impossible to keep up with all these different cores! Cities, lakes, rivers... What ever - I just want to check my email or play a game!


Well you need not remember the "hundreds of cpu flavors" as that spans more than just a couple year's time. I know Intel can frustrate with it's various chipset requirements with new releases, however AM2 is still just AM2. There's no chip that will plug into an AM2 board that won't work without a bios flash at the very most.

As far as AM2+, backwards compatibility seems to be a priority for this "new" platform. Even on the Intel boat, the LGA775 platform has staying power. 775 might be confusing what with chips that will plug into boards, and will not work.

Even still, for the most part it seems that when a major change happens, most people buy a mobo/cpu/ram in a set.

Much of the time, you can get the board for close to free or better with bundle deals such as that on fry's (although they usually aren't always the best boards...)

So I'm sorry that you're 'so tired' of it all, but if you really just want to check your email or play a game, that old socket 754 sempron and a decent video card from 2 years ago should still suit you just fine. If you're a hardcore gamer who is always playing the latest games at the highest resolutions, don't know what to say except stay informed and never purchase less than a week after you decide to. Use that week to research your decisions and make sure you aren't making a mistake.

The technology will continue to change, as it always has. If you don't like it, then sir you are posting on the wrong website.


RE: I'm so confused!
By aos007 on 7/14/07, Rating: 0
RE: I'm so confused!
By kenji4life on 7/14/2007 3:58:34 PM , Rating: 3
Sorry, I just don't see what's so confusing.

You want an HTPC setup, find a motherboard with onboard graphics and get a low power cpu.

you want a gaming setup, find a motherboard with lots of bells & whistles, add the latest ati/nvidia video card within your budget (of at least 100 bucks) and grab a couple sticks of ram

enthusiast? define this? enthusiastic about what? if the person is an enthusiast, do they really need someone telling them that this is the "enthusiast line"? I never met a computer enthusiast that didn't know how to figure out what processor to choose

you want a computer for checking email? anything will work.

Green? This sounds synonymous with "HTPC" to me?

Server? Who in the hell is letting someone make their server purchases if they don't know what to buy? Intel.com and AMD.com have plenty of subjective information about why you should choose them for server purchases. You can read that and then find more objective reviews even right next door at anandtech. If all this is too much for you, I've got some sad news: You shouldn't be the person purchasing servers for your company. They picked the wrong person for the job, or you need to do some 'light' reading on micro-computing.
Honestly though, if someone doesn't know how to build a computer properly, I point them in two very different directions:

option a. Read and Learn. Search the internet and ask people who do know. Be objective. Patience is important. With enough research even a complete noob can figure it out. Most PC magazines have regular articles showing how to build a computer and how to choose components.

option b. goto the store, dell.com, __insert other pc seller here__, and just buy one whole. The fact of the matter is that you can purchase decent computer setup with much less hassle and the same amount of money or less as the cost of the individual parts if you buy one whole from dell.

I know the world is cruel and cold. But survival of the fittest is still very much in effect. If you are unfit to make an educated purchase, don't blame the market; learn how to be fit. If you are unable after 1 week of research to make an educated purchase, you probably are not fit to build your own machine.


RE: I'm so confused!
By 9nails on 7/16/2007 9:17:47 PM , Rating: 2
You've obviously have done your homework and enjoy keeping up with the market. But you're also in that stereotype where I would put people who know what chip the codename "Brisbane" means and what the characteristics of that chip are. But not all of us have that sort of time, nor that passion.

I see CPU's under the major category's of "Mobile", "Workstation", and "Server". At best, there should be two chips under each of those major category's with various clock speeds.

Just under Mobile alone, I can find "Pentium 4", "Pentium 4 Mobile", "Celeron Mobile", "Core Solo", "Core Duo Mobile", "Core 2 Duo Mobile", "Core 2 Extreme Mobile", "Turion 64 Mobile", "Turion 64 X2 Mobile", "Sempron"... And I'm sure inside each of those are subtitles and nuances that are meaningful to the manufacture. But now I need to research 10+ CPU lines just to determine if a notebook will let my boss run the applications that he needs for the expected life of that notebook. Then I need to research video card options, RAM, solid state drives, wifi chips, bio scanners, cameras, serial ports... You might see where my enthusiasm peaks and starts to become frustration.

Now on desktops, I can find "Core Duo", "Core 2 Duo", "Core 2 Extreme", "Core 2 Quad", even "Pentium 4" and "Celeron" some of those some with wonderful descriptions like "Yonah", "Mermon", "Conroe", "Allendale", "Prescott", "Ceadar Mill", "Northwood", "Smithfield", or "Dothan". And this is just in the Intel family. Then I'd have to turn and look at AMD's offerings and figure out what in AMD's line-up competes directly against the Intel counterpart and compare the two... It's too many. Really.

And, no, I don't want a Dell! hahaha! Really, Dell's are fine computers for the office. But they suck for upgrading and make you pay twice as much for the options.


RE: I'm so confused!
By kenji4life on 7/17/2007 3:26:31 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
You've obviously have done your homework and enjoy keeping up with the market.


I have done my homework, but I assure you it didn't take up that much of my time. Thanks for the recognition though.

quote:
But you're also in that stereotype where I would put people who know what chip the codename "Brisbane" means and what the characteristics of that chip are. But not all of us have that sort of time, nor that passion.


There's where you are wrong. I couldn't tell you what "Brisbane" means without going to google, other than the fact that I'm pretty sure it's an AMD chip. I don't know what characteristics of that chip are, either.

As far as free time and passion, I've got lots of those. I do find plenty of free time to be passionate about life between my full time college studies, part time job, full time girlfriend, and part time home-ownership. Yeah, I can admit that sometimes I don't get as much sleep as I should.
But I still do have 5 minutes to google "Brisbane" if I'm going to be spending my hard earned and sparse supply of money on it.

quote:
I see CPU's under the major category's of "Mobile", "Workstation", and "Server". At best, there should be two chips under each of those major category's with various clock speeds.


I agree. Although often the difference between the three isn't as much as I'd like.

quote:
But now I need to research 10+ CPU lines just to determine if a notebook will let my boss run the applications that he needs for the expected life of that notebook. Then I need to research video card options, RAM, solid state drives, wifi chips, bio scanners, cameras, serial ports... You might see where my enthusiasm peaks and starts to become frustration.


I see it well. But I must ask, are you being rewarded monetarily or otherwise for your efforts? If yes, my sympathy for you tapers off. I could find you dozens of people in a single day that would happily quit their thankless back breaking jobs, just to sit at a computer and research. Trust me I used to be one of them. You did say "boss" didn't you?

quote:
And this is just in the Intel family. Then I'd have to turn and look at AMD's offerings and figure out what in AMD's line-up competes directly against the Intel counterpart and compare the two... It's too many. Really.


Have you considered research based on budget, instead of budget based on research? i/e: figure out what products are available on the market. This eliminates a large amount of the research you have to do. Then find the price point where you get the most performance increase for the smallest dollar increase within your budget. Take all of the available options and simply research them. Forget about everything else.

quote:
And, no, I don't want a Dell! hahaha! Really, Dell's are fine computers for the office. But they suck for upgrading and make you pay twice as much for the options.


I could see why not. I agree with you for the most part. However sometimes their "base" system is a very good deal, from which you can purchase ram/video cards/monitors etc separately. This then becomes a good "barebones" if you will or base from which to build your system. Oftentimes dell has sales on these "base" systems which are cheaper than you can buy the parts separately. Of course, I rarely if ever do this; but I won't deny having a dell in the office.


RE: I'm so confused!
By Comdrpopnfresh on 7/15/2007 9:20:36 AM , Rating: 3
THOSE people buy a Dell


Hmmmm
By RjBass on 7/16/2007 1:51:49 AM , Rating: 2
Maybe I am just reading it wrong, or I don't understand the technology, but newegg as both the BE series listed at 65nm. The article above says their 45nm.




RE: Hmmmm
By wordsworm on 7/16/2007 3:25:55 AM , Rating: 4
45 watt, not 45nm. If this chip was 45nm it would take a great deal of thunder away from Intel.


RE: Hmmmm
By RjBass on 7/16/2007 2:38:38 PM , Rating: 2
Ok so their is a difference then.

Sorry im a noob with this stuff, but what is the nm rating? I don't think I have ever understood that.


RE: Hmmmm
By Chernobyl68 on 7/16/2007 7:19:03 PM , Rating: 2
nm = nanometer 10^-9 meters.

basically its how small the transistors are in the cpu chip. Generall speaking, smaller transistors means smaller die footprint means more cpus per wafer in manufacturing, which means cheaper to produce. However, this is usually offset somewhat by the increasing number of transistors in the next generation CPU.


Power enthusiast
By wordsworm on 7/16/2007 3:36:56 AM , Rating: 3
I like to think of myself as a power enthusiast. I want a fully functioning system that can play yesterday's great games, do today's applications, while not pulling a lot of juice out of the wall. I consider myself to be an enthusiast, but I also think about the environment and I am ready to give up some performance for that. (although I'm not ready to go with that 9 watt 2100 Sempron... I have my limits - I want those 2 cores! Besides, I can't seem to find them.) Unfortunately, I'm in Korea, and I haven't seen these processors for sale yet.

AMD rocks , and for whatever reason, people seem to have forgotten that just one year ago, these $100 processors would have been selling for about $1000.




Good news..
By kenji4life on 7/13/2007 2:40:24 PM , Rating: 3
Good to see AMD releasing processors with lower TDP ratings. This will allow more people to run their processors passively cooled (such as mine). This will cut down on loud fans needed to cool hot processors.

However this does seem a bit futile. Although because of AMD's manufacturing process, it doesn't really hurt them to implement new designs. It's good to see them continue to release products, even if they aren't helped much in the long run.

I'd like to see AMD release some kind of a refresh with AM2+ that will further entice buyers. Competition is critical in this market right now, with Intel gaining speed like a bullet train on a cross country voyage.




RE: Good news..
By HotFoot on 7/13/07, Rating: -1
I know why they released this now
By gersson on 7/15/2007 11:31:32 AM , Rating: 2
They were waiting for me to buy my X2 :-(
I have bad timing when buying PC parts




Yawn
By MrBungle123 on 7/13/07, Rating: -1
RE: Yawn
By mdogs444 on 7/13/2007 2:46:33 PM , Rating: 5
Anyone worried about thermal perspectives wouldn't classify 45w, 65w, and 89w processors the same.

And technically AMD does not release the same product anymore than intel does.....

Opteron & X2 series are pretty similar, just as the C2D and Xeon's are. But the wattage, consumption, and thermal characteristics are geared differently for Server chips.

Also, AMD releases chips with the same clock speeds and disabled Cache, just as intel does.

So I'd like to see more specifics as to exactly what you are referring to.....because just because it is a 2.0GHz CPU, doesnt mean its the same as every other 2.0GHz CPU.


RE: Yawn
By crimson117 on 7/13/2007 3:03:04 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Is AMD trying to break the record for the number of times a company can launch the same products over and over with slightly different names or something?

You mean Apple's record? ;)


RE: Yawn
By Hare on 7/13/2007 3:07:02 PM , Rating: 2
Would you care to elaborate on that?


RE: Yawn
By mdogs444 on 7/13/2007 3:24:53 PM , Rating: 1
Im not quite sure what he's saying either -

but i am assuming he's referring to all the ipods: Mini, Nano, 20GB, 30GB, 60GB, 80GB, Video, etc.

Thats all i can think of?


RE: Yawn
By Faust0 on 7/13/07, Rating: 0
RE: Yawn
By mdogs444 on 7/13/2007 4:17:00 PM , Rating: 2
Well you have obviously never been taught to not assume what people are talking about.

This article was about processors - and is expected to have an AMD vs. Intel argument. No where in the article do i see where an Apple Ipod MP3 player has any relevance.


RE: Yawn
By quiksilv3r on 7/13/2007 8:07:22 PM , Rating: 1
Put that shovel down before you dig that hole you're in any deeper. ;)


RE: Yawn
By AndreasM on 7/14/2007 11:59:07 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
MrBungle123: Is AMD trying to break the record for the number of times a company can launch the same products over and over with slightly different names or something?


quote:
crimson117's response: You mean Apple's record? ;)


RE: Yawn
By mdogs444 on 7/13/2007 4:19:02 PM , Rating: 1
And on another note, if you want dense....and to debate something that is not on topic, why dont we just being General Motors. How many times can they release the same car? Blazer, Jimmy, Bravada. Pontiac Grand Am, Olds Alero & Intrigue, etc.

See any relevance to processors? I dont.


RE: Yawn
By kenji4life on 7/14/2007 12:35:16 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
by mdogs444 on July 13, 2007 at 4:19 PM

And on another note, if you want dense....and to debate something that is not on topic, why dont we just being General Motors. How many times can they release the same car? Blazer, Jimmy, Bravada. Pontiac Grand Am, Olds Alero & Intrigue, etc.

See any relevance to processors? I dont.


Dodge Neon, Plymouth Neon
Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Dodge/Plymouth Laser
Mitsubishi 3000GT, Dodge Stealth
Mazda PU, Ford Ranger
Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda SUV, Lincoln Aviator
Toyota Camry, Lexus 300
Nissan Sentra, Infiniti G20
Nissan Maxima, Infiniti I30,I35
VW Jetta, Audi A4

Should I go on?

If you want to argue the GM brand, don't forget about every other car company that does the same exact thing.

But like you said, this is not relevant. Not in the least bit. These vehicles are cosmetically different, not evolutionarily. I'm hoping that was your point in the first place? Because the processor releases from Intel and AMD are evolutionary. Evolution on the small scale, but evolution no less. I'm pretty sure humans didn't just wake up and say "Hey, this cave is old. I'm going to invent concrete, wood, nails, drywall, shingles, glass, ... and build a house."

Let me put this into more relevant and discernable context:

Say I have an old computer based of a Tbird 1.4 ghz AMD processor (that's socket A)

I'm trying to setup a linux server using the latest ubuntu release and hlds so that I can host my own CS:S game server.

This isn't going to work with what I've got. The processor has plenty of power, but since hlds now requires certain SSE instructions (it didn't always) I need to put a new processor in. It so happens I have a newer socket A sempron (or athlonxp) processor laying around. This processor plugs right into my old board with no problems and doesn't even require a bios update. hlds will now start the server up and my server is up and running without a hitch.

Now if AMD had decided not to release this processor because it was 'too much of a hassle' or they 'didn't want to bother the consumers with a refresh', I'd have no server at all. My old system would be obsolete and I might as well throw it out. That's why evolutionary change is very important in the processor industry.

Because AMD decided to release newer processors with more instruction sets for the same platform, people who wouldn't have been able to DO certain things before have now enabled that option. If we were to think in the way that "they should just forget about these evolutionary steps, and wait until something revolutionary comes along before releasing it" Well kids, let's not forget that you can't spell Revolution without e-v-o-l-u-t-i-o-n.


RE: Yawn
By TomZ on 7/14/2007 1:42:39 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
VW Jetta, Audi A4

Not the same, not even close. You may have been thinking of the Passat, which is built on the same platform as the A4. But same platform does not equal the same car. Just go test drive the two if you want to understand how different they are. We owned both of those cars at one time, and they were pretty different.


RE: Yawn
By kenji4life on 7/14/2007 3:39:37 PM , Rating: 2
Well, my examples my have varied quite a bit. Different platforms can be manipulated in very different ways. The point I was trying to make, however was that you can have two cars on the same platform and yes, be very different but still be the same at the core. Take the A32 nissan platform for instance. While a Maxima in the GXE trim looks spartan and has drives noticably different than it's Infiniti I30t cousin, you take them both apart and you'll find that the more you take from them, the more they are the same at the core. Translate this into processors:
You could have a motherboard running say a Geforce6100 graphics chip, everything on board, and compare that to another motherboard with no onboard graphics that performs much better in a game. But you start taking away the parts and you'll realize that in the end, you'll have the same socket running with the same ram, and in many programs, the two systems will perform nearly identically.


RE: Yawn
By mdogs444 on 7/14/2007 5:59:53 PM , Rating: 2
Actually you are incorrect. I have an Audi A4 Quattro. They carry the same motor & same platform as the jettas. The A6 & Passat are on the same platform. And the Phateon & A8 are on the same platform.

All carry the same motor options as well - the A4/Jetta have the 2.0(T) and used to carry the 1.8(T). The A6/Passat carried the 2.7T & 4.2. The Phaeton & A8 are both available with the W12.

The main thing that differs between the Audi & VW models besides basic interior cosmetics, are the drivetrain. The Audi are available with Quattro all wheel drive, while the VW's are not.


RE: Yawn
By kenji4life on 7/14/2007 6:26:22 PM , Rating: 2
Why thank you. I thought I had it right the first time. I don't often post something unless I'm certain of it's validity. I'm no vw/audi guru. But I have done my fair share of research.


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