Legit Reviews

Dear Friends,

I'm upgrading my computer and need help in deciding the best among three variants of AMD 5200+ dual core processor. The AMD website shows three variants, but does not label any of them as "windsor" or "brisbane". Here are the three variants:

A> 5200+, Revision F2, Core Speed (Mhz) 2600, Wattage 89 W, L2 Cache Size (KB) 1024, CMOS 90nm SOI
My question: I suppose this is "windsor", because this is 89 W and 90nm SOI. Is this correct?

B> 5200+, Revision F3, Core Speed (Mhz) 2600, Wattage 65 W, L2 Cache Size (KB) 1024, CMOS 90nm SOI
My question: Is this is "brisbane", because this is 65 W? but the manufacturing technology is 90nm SOI - I thought "brisbane" was 65nm SOI.

C> 5200+, Revision G2, Core Speed (Mhz) 2700, Wattage 65 W, L2 Cache Size (KB) 512, CMOS 65nm SOI
My question: Is this is "brisbane" or "windsor"? Why is that the Core speed is 2700 MHz, wheras the others are 2600 MHz?

Finally, which among the three is best?
Does greater L2 cache mean higher performance? Should I go in for the processor with 1 MB cache? Just to reiterate, I do not intend to overclock, but I would prefer a cooler, energy efficient, 65W processor. Is there a "windsor" processor with wattage of 65W?

In summary which of the three should I choose?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Prashanth

1. Yes, Windsor is the 90nm core.
2. No, it's still a Windsor core, since it's 90nm like you said, but it's simply a better one out of the batch.
3. That's 65nm so it's Brisbane. AMD changed their speed rating with the new Brisbane cores, I think it has to do with the lesser amount of cache.

C is the best out of those. Although if you're gonna get this, you might as well get the Black Edition 5000+. It's cheaper and the unlocked multiplier makes overclocking easier than ever!

There's no point in getting a Windsor core now really, they're not cheaper and they generally run hotter. Finally, no, you won't notice any difference between 512KB vs 1MB cache, except maybe in some benchmarks.

Zertz wrote:
C is the best out of those. Although if you're gonna get this, you might as well get the Black Edition 5000+. It's cheaper and the unlocked multiplier makes overclocking easier than ever!

That's a good summary. I would pick "C" as well. Even a mild OC with the standard air-cooling isn't bad at all. A simple 100Mhz OC increase will not hurt anything at all.

Wow!! Thanks so much for the detailed response! This has cleared the confusion for me.

Thanks,
Prashanth

if you plan on getting the 5200 and CAN oc then you should get a lower clocked brisbane and overclock it. I have the 3600 x2 OCd and stable at 2.80-2.85. From what I hear if you get a 5000 series brisbane it clocks the same. So if you don't get the easy black edition then you might as well get a cheaper one if your mobo permits the overclocking you will need to do.

And maybe the newer processors clock higher.

I agree with the 5000 Black Edition! People are getting great OC out of them.

I'm researching the very same question. Would you guys who chose (C) maybe explain in more detail your choice over (B)?

I'm leary that 512 can be as useful as 1024 in a level-2 cache when the system is used for heavy multitasking. Maybe it can be, but I hate to see that L2 cut in half.

My real choice doesn't exist. It would have been 1024 @ 65 watts @ 65 nm. Hmm, make that 45 nm!

If I did choose (C), then I agree I'd go for a black 5000+. So, for my use, it's between (B) and a black 5000+. I'd like to hear whatever details you might like to suggest on that. Thanks.

The reason I choose C is because even tho brisbane vs windsor. The winner is windsor at the same clock speed. You can get your clock speed higher with brisbane since it overclocks more than the windsor

Hmm. Well, that's good, on a nice light Brisbane box. I can see why it's so popular.

But now I'm stuck trying to compare apples and oranges: twice the L2 cache, vs a higher clock speed. I've often wondered about that. For multitasking (not gaming), what do you think?

If nobody told you it had less cache, you never would have known ;)

I think go 5000 black edition and clock it until it screams for mercy.