AMD Sempron Socket 754 3100+ Performance

When the Sempron 3100+ is released, it should be priced at or slightly above $120. At nearly $100 of savings over a retail AMD64 3000+ or 3200+, the Sempron is quite attractive to the consumer who wants AMD64 performance without the associated price tag, and doesn't require 64-bit functionality. The Sempron also comes in almost $400 cheaper than a retail 3500+ AMD64 Socket 939 processor. A retail package of an Intel Celeron 2.8 "D" can currently be found for slightly over $100. An extra $20 to that cost buys a consumer a Socket 754 processor with an onboard memory controller and an advanced architecture. A consumer seeking an upgrade path to 64-bit processing, but desiring to wait untill there is more support, could purchase an AMD Sempron Socket 754 and compatible motherboard, and them upgrade to an AMD64 at a later time, to gain 64-bit abilities. As such, the Sempron is a wonderful solution for an enthusiast on a budget, who wants a new system now, but doesn't want to pay high prices for 64-bit capabilities that remain primarily un-utilized, currently. By providing 32-bit to 64-bit processor scalability, and thus investment security in a new motherboard purchase, the Sempron fills a previously un-realized niche in the hardware market.

The performance jump when moving to the Socket 754 platform is immediately noticable. The Memory and Multi-Media Benchmarks are much improved, so the Socket 754 Sempron could potentially compete in the performance market against the Pentium 4, instead of the Celeron. Let's take a look at what CPUZ has to report on the Sempron 3100+:

Before we look any further, take a look at what CPUZ reports on a AMD64 Socket 754 3000+.

See any similarities? The L1 is configured identically on both processors, with the Sempron L2 missing half the cache and x86-64 support. Specific Sempron support is not yet implemented in CPUZ, however, the program recognizes the chip as an AMD 64 and part of the Hammer family. Also interesting to note is that the Sempron 3100+ is running at a mere 1.4vcore. Overclockers everywhere rejoice, as you may have just found your budget overclocking chip of choice.

In testing, TWL found that the Sempron 3100+ did indeed run cooler than the AMD64 3000+, by a whole 10F!

It must be mentioned that, although the processor does indeed run cooler, this is due to the lower vcore as well as lower clock speed of the Sempron 3100+. Temperatures listed are merely for reference.

Overclocking:

Working on the suspicion that the 3100+ is actually an AMD64 is disguise, TWL went about a bit of overclocking to see what the processor is capable of. We reached a maximum stable operating frequency of 2160 at 1.45vcore. In this situation, it was our Albatron motherboard that limited overclocking this chip further due to the lack of a PCI/AGP lock. It does, however, show what this CPU is capable of. It is the opinion of this reviewer that this CPU would reach frequencies in excess of 2300mhz with proper cooling and a working AGP/PCI lock.

Sempron Conclusions

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