Duron systems from IBM and CPQ soon.
This PC Mag article raises some interesting points. I had to type it so sorry for any typos.
First, Ibm and Cpq both appear very close to introducing duron systems.
Second, no oems have released a celeron 700 system despite release in June. The only apparent plans are by Dell and this isn't until Nov. suggesting segmentation issues are the reason for slow adoption of 700s and likely all Durons.
Third, the Duron 700 absolutely spanks the celeron 700 by 34%, 23% and 29% in CPUmark, business winstone and content creation winstone, respectively. The beating is so bad, PC mag couldn't even get an oem to give them a branded box.
Finally, ZD net is still incredibly biased as they made excuses for celery's shortcomings including the video card being better than the 810e integrated solution. Funny, I don't remember their Dell 1000 reviews highlighting the 64 meg ddr cards or high priced rmbs. Also interesting is the fact they use an average of two systems for comparison, so I'm assuming the polywell likely exceeds these published averages.
Oh well, if AMD keeps executing, mags that attempt to spin will be exposed and their sales and web hits will diminish (Unless of course, cnet can buy them all!) I've already cancelled my subscription.
survivin
Duron vs. Celeron
Cade Metz
August 29, 2000
In an effort to compete with the Intel Celeron processor in the low cost PC market, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has introduced a chip of similar design and name. Now available in machines from smaller PC manufacturers such as CyberMax, Polywell, and Systemax and soon to be used by IBM and Compaq, the AMD Duron is a relatively inexpensive chip. Like the Celeron, it operates at clock speeds as high as 700 MHz and benefits from an L2 cache.
Here we review two of the first Microsoft Windows 98 machines to use the Duron, the CyberMax ValueMax D700A and the Polywell Poly 830K7-700D. We then compared their results on our tests with those of a white box PC equipped with the recently announced 700Mhz Intel Celeron.
The Duron uses the same processing core as the Thunderbird, AMD's first high-end Athlon CPU, which includes support for AMD's 3dnow! multimedia instruction set, 128mb of L1 cache, and a 200-mhz front side bus. Yet, the thunderbird chip is available with a core clock speed as high as 1 GHz and offers 256mb of L2 cache, whereas the Duron currently tops out at 700 MHz and uses only 64mb of L2 cache.
Previous AMD processors, the original Athlon and the K6, did not use an integrated secondary cache. With each chip, secondary cache resided either on a separate card or on a PC's motherboard and ran at only a fraction of the chip's core clock speed. When secondary cache sits on the chip itself, it shares the same clock as the chip. In other words, the L2 cache can receive information from -- and pass information back to -- the processor core much more quickly.
The Celeron has used an integrated L2 cache since the 566 and 600Mhz versions of the chip were introduced this spring, but its design differs slightly from the Duron's. The Celeron's L2 cache (128mb) is larger, and it uses a wider data path (256-bit) compared with the Duron's 64-bit path. But the L1 cache is smaller (32mb), and the chip's front side bus is slower (66 MHz).
Though the Celeron 700 was announced in late June, Dell won't offer the chip to consumers until November. Vendors such as IBM, HP, and Micron have yet to decide when -- or whether -- they'll offer it. Yet we did acquire a white box Celeron 700 PC to compare with the two Duron systems reviewed here. Built by a major PC manufacturer, this white box uses the integrated graphics of Intel's 810e chip set and, like the two Duron machines, includes 128mb of memory and a 7,200rpm hard drive.
Running our CPUmark test, the CyberMax and the Polywell scored roughly 34 percent higher than the Celeron/700-based unit--a clear indication of the Duron's ability. But this does not necessarily translate to better performance.(huh?...) The two systems scored roughly 23 percent higher than the white box machine under Business Winstone and 29 percent higher under Content Creation Winstone 2000. Although these percentages are attributable to the Duron chip at least in part, such performance is also the result of the graphics engine used by each Duron machine: the nVidia Riva tnt2, which is typically much faster than the Intel 810e's engine.
The CyberMax ValueMax D700A, $1,199, is targeted at PC enthusiasts and gamers. Nonetheless, the system is a fairly standard Microsoft Windows 98 mini-tower, ofering a DVD drive, a modem, an Ethernet card, and a 20gb hard drive. You can easily open the system chassis but also easily secure it shut (with the help of your own lock). And there's plenty of room for expansion: one PCi slot, two 3.5- inch internal drive bays, and two free external 5.25-inch bays.
The system ships with a modest 17inch monitor, two modest speakers, and a keyboard equipped with volume controls and several programmable hotkeys. CyberMax also includes a copy of Corel Word-Perfect Office Suite 2000 and backs the system with a one-year parts and labor warranty.
Benefiting from a 45gb Ultra ata/100 hard drive and a Promise Ultraata/100 hard disk controller, the Poly 830K7-700D is a slightly better performer than the ValueMax. But the Poly is also more expensive, selling for $ 1,450, and it lacks an Ethernet card. Like the CyberMax, it offers a DVD drive, a modem, two speakers, and a 17-inch monitor. Polywell also includes a copy of Lotus Smart Suite Millennium and a warranty that covers parts for three years and labor for four. |
