Hi all,

Does anyone know if there's a software utility, or a way to tell by the CPU codes/stepping numbers, whether one has a Palomino or Thoroughbred core Athlon XP? I'm about to move my Athlon XP 1600+ (most definitely a Palomino core) to a second system, and have ordered an Athlon XP 2000+. I ordered a retail one, because the price difference was only ten bucks, and with the Taisol HS/fan coming with, I can use that for my Athlon XP 1600+ and keep my Alpha 6035 for the 2000+ in my main system.

I'd be interested in telling what kind of core it has, as AMD has made both Palomino and Thoroughbred core, 2000+ cpu's, and also the stepping, I know there's a ThoroughbredA and a Thoroughbred B stepping. It doesn't appear that WCPUID can tell me directly, though perhaps its model# and stepping codes will tell me and someone can interpret them for me. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

P.S. How much Palomino stock is still in the channel, if you order from a high volume retailer? Is it more likely to help you get a newer core because of stock turnover?

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AMD Athlon XP 2000+ aircooled
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Download SiSoft Sandra, and open up the CPU and BIOS information. Under Model Information, it will tell you if it is Throughbred or Palimino.

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--Daniel--

Sorry to inform you that the Thoroughbreds start at 2200+. And you'll most likely get a rev. A at that speed.. the only difference between the A & B (i think..) is better heat dissipation. But even at 0.13 microns, it's still very hot...

Thats what I thought too...

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--Daniel--

(Quoted)

Sorry to inform you that the Thoroughbreds start at 2200+. And you'll most likely get a rev. A at that speed.. the only difference between the A & B (i think..) is better heat dissipation. But even at 0.13 microns, it's still very hot...


Actually, they don't, they only started shipping at 2200+, AMD has now integrated the Thoroughbred core down as far as 1700+ even according to their whitepapers on their site.. To quote Anandtech....

"The Thoroughbred core will be introduced at clock speeds that overlap with the older Palomino parts; more specifically, model numbers from 1700+ up to 2200+ will be made available in 0.13-micron Thoroughbred versions."

This was from the Thoroughbred A review...as for the Thoroughbred B core, I've since found AMD's white paper on the stepping 680 and 681 CPU's...the 680 being the Thoroughbred-A, the 681 being the Thoroughbred B (as I understand it). Stepping 680 ranges from the 1700+ to the 2200+....Stepping 681 ranges from the 2000+ to the 2600+....Higher CPU's are likely not mentioned because they've only been paper-launched so far.

I guess I partly answered my question already in doing this research...but indeed the latest SiSoft Sandra 2002 at least tells you what CPU core you have without having to research the steppings, making life a lot easier. So, the Athlon XP 2000+ can indeed come in either Palomino, Thoroughbred-A, or Thoroughbred-B cores...biggest difference is in heat dissipation (Thoroughbred cores run quite a bit cooler, about 10 watts cooler) and the Thoroughbred-B is more likely to overclock well, as it has a 9-metal layer process instead of an 8-layer one, due to the ceiling they hit on the Thoroughbred-A (it didn't scale well above the 2200+).

So, now that I've figured all this out, it remains to be seen which core I'll be shipped. Wish me luck on that one.

__________________
AMD Athlon XP 2000+ aircooled
ASUS A7V8X-RAID mobo, Enet, SATA, 1394, USB2.0, all dat junk
512MB Crucial DDR
AOpen HX-08 case, Enermax 430wPS
80GB WD Spedial Edition 8MB cache
(all SCSI) Plextor 40x CD, Yamaha 8x4x24 CDRW, Seagate DDS2 DAT
Visiontek Geforce3 Ti200
Adaptec 2930U2 SCSI
ATI TV Wonder
SB Audigy MP3+

the t-bred core is more like a rectangle while the polimino core is more like a square... thats the eaiest way to tell... more t-bred cored chips are mustard colored....

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There is also a way to find out at the AMD site, I calles them for a question and the tech support walked me through a file that named my cpu. Sorry I dont remember exactly how to get back to the file cause I recently tried to do it again and couldnt find it. I will try it again later if you havent found an answer to your question yet and post it back here.(if I can get back to it again)