Performance:

Sempron 2800+, Sisoft results:

Results:

The 2800+ handled the multimedia results quite well, beating both the P4 chips in the integer category. The Floading-Point performance of the Sempron 2800+ is also noteworthy, as it was a close competitor with the INTEL P4 -E 530 chipset.

The 2800+ was faster than the Intel P4 chips in the arithmetic benchmark, also besting those chips the FPU category. While the 2800+ did not report iSSE2 support, even the avid workstation user shouldn't notice any performance losses working with desktop applications.

As expected, the 3dMark score shows the 2800+ is not designed or suitable for the hardcore gamer looking for outstanding performance in that field. The light gamer could still pick up this system for a good price and invest the saved money into a higher-end video card, and disable the onboard video. Utilizing the onboard 8x AGP slot for an aftermarket 3D video card would easily turn this budget system into a suitable gaming machine.

The Sempron 2800+ is not breaking any speed records in PCMark, but it also returns average to good results for a budget-based system.

The Celeron Based System returned the following Results:

As has been the case with previous AMD processors, where the Memory controller has not been integrated into the chip, the Pentium and Celeron-based systems perform better in the memory bandwidth tests. It seems that in all other tests, the Sempron takes the lead by a slight, but noticeable margin.

Application Performance

It is worthy to note that not all number-based benchmarks represent real world performance. The Sempron displayed some remarkable times and snappy response within Windows XP that the Celeron system could not compete with. TWL used startup and application open times to represent real world performance of a desktop workstation.

Windows XP SP1 Startup Time: Time was based on time to reach a fully loaded desktop from complete shutdown.

Microsoft Office Access- Opening a 100MB Database

Microsoft Office Power Point- Opening a 10 MB PowerPoint Presentation

Windows XP SP1- Copying a 100MB file to another directory on the same drive

In three out of four tests, the Sempron 2800+ system comes out clearly ahead of the Celeron system. Aside from the numbers, however, the machine simply felt more responsive. Menus and programs started faster, and there was little lag between folders and moving objects within directories. Workstation and business users will likely perform countless copy and paste operations of files and directories, which the Sempron handles easily, with performance that could be felt and seen.

Now let's take a look at AMD's New Socket 754 Sempron 3100+.

Shopping Matches for AMD Sempron: