Review: AMD 950MHz Thunderbird Athlon (Page 6/6)

Posted: December 4, 2000
Written by: Tuan "Solace" Nguyen

Analysis

With AMD’s current pricing for its processors, you can’t go wrong with any of its processors. Every Athlon and Duron will surely make you happy. The 950MHz Thunderbird is no exception to that statement.

Currently, the 950MHz Thunderbird is going for about: $234.00USD
Currently, the 1GHz Thunderbird is going for about: $253.00USD
Currently, the 1.1GHz Thunderbird is going for about: $342.00USD

As you can see from the updated SYSMark 2000 chart, the overclocked 950MHz Thunderbird outperforms the 1GHz and the 1.1GHz processors. This isn’t surprising since overclocking the FSB increases performance of the overall system as well as the processor.

You can also see that the 950MHz costs less than its faster brothers.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt about it -- AMD definitely gives you an excellent bargain. Clock for clock, an Intel processor would cost at least $90 more and doesn’t give you quite as great of an all-around performance benefit as an Athlon. Even AMD’s own processors compete with themselves. Why buy a 1.1GHz Athlon when a 950MHz one can do better? That’s the choice that you have to make. Personally, I think the 950MHz is a super attractive processor able to break the gigahertz barrier easily.

Also, when buying your processor, you should keep in mind the types of software you will be using. Will your games and applications benefit from the speed increases? Or will they simply yield a 4FPS difference? Unreal Tournament is proof that buying a faster, more expensive processor will not always give you the increase you expect. Carefully examine your current setup and see what you really need.

If you’re looking to purchase a totally new system, then I totally recommend a Thunderbird Athlon or Duron based system as they are low in costs and have outstanding performance. If you are on a classic Athlon based system, you may want to take a look at the higher speed variant Thunderbirds. For people that are using capable Celeron systems that are beyond 600MHz by default, I’d recommend sticking to your guns and trying to overclock your processor first -- many of them can reach speeds in excess of 900MHz -- giving a huge performance increase. And for those other Intel fans that are on a 500MHz or less system, jumping to a Duron or Thunderbird is an attractive choice.

There we have it. The choice comes down to price and performance ratios. What can you afford and what you need are two different things but must be looked at equally. Choose the processor that is right for you. But then again, if you have the money, by all means indulge.

Overall Rating: 9.2/10.0

Once again, thanks for reading. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me here or visit me in channel #tweak3d on any Undernet server, IRC.

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