Athlon and Sempron - same heatsink?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Colin MacDonald
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Colin MacDonald

Hi.

I have ordered a Sempron 2300 and a heatsink / fan to go with it.
Trouble is, the heatsink is described as being suitable for an Athlon
2800+, and doesn't mention whether or not it will work with a Sempron.
(I forgot to check.)

I've seen Coolermaster fans, among others, listed as being good for
Athlon & Sempron but I don't know if this is a specific design feature.

So my question is: does any Athlon-intended heatsink also fit a Sempron?

Thanks,
Colin MacDonald
 
Colin said:
Hi.

I have ordered a Sempron 2300 and a heatsink / fan to go with it.
Trouble is, the heatsink is described as being suitable for an Athlon
2800+, and doesn't mention whether or not it will work with a Sempron.
(I forgot to check.)

I've seen Coolermaster fans, among others, listed as being good for
Athlon & Sempron but I don't know if this is a specific design feature.

So my question is: does any Athlon-intended heatsink also fit a Sempron?

Thanks,
Colin MacDonald
Click to expand...

There are Semprons for both Socket A (the socket used by Athlons
and Durons) and for Socket 754 (the socket used by most Athlon 64s).

If your Sempron is a Socket A version, then go ahead and use that
Athlon heatsink/fan. If your Sempron is a Socket 754 version,
then don't open the fan/sink package - exchange it for a fan/sink
suitable for an Athlon 64 / AthlonFX / Opteron.

A common fan/sink in my area for Socket 754 processors in the
ThermalTake A1838, although the Zalman CNPS7000 and CNPS7700
lines are rapidly growing in popularity.
 
There are Semprons for both Socket A (the socket used by Athlons
and Durons) and for Socket 754 (the socket used by most Athlon 64s).

If your Sempron is a Socket A version, then go ahead and use that
Athlon heatsink/fan.
Click to expand...

The only Socket 754 Sempron is the 3100+.
 
Rob said:
There are Semprons for both Socket A (the socket used by Athlons and
Durons) and for Socket 754 (the socket used by most Athlon 64s).

If your Sempron is a Socket A version, then go ahead and use that Athlon
heatsink/fan. If your Sempron is a Socket 754 version, then don't open
the fan/sink package - exchange it for a fan/sink suitable for an Athlon
64 / AthlonFX / Opteron.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help.

Colin MacDonald
 
Hi.

I have ordered a Sempron 2300 and a heatsink / fan to go with it.
Trouble is, the heatsink is described as being suitable for an Athlon
2800+, and doesn't mention whether or not it will work with a Sempron.
(I forgot to check.)
Click to expand...

Yup, same heatsink because it's the same processor, just labeled
differently. A Sempr0n 2400+ is the same exact chip as an AthlonXP
"Thornton" core, and would get roughly a 2100+ rating as an AthlonXP
if such a chip existed.

FWIW I've purchased a Sempr0n 2400+ a little while back and had to use
the heatsink that came with the chip on my AthlonXP and took the
heatsink that had been on the AthlonXP and used it on the Sempr0n.
Works just fine.
I've seen Coolermaster fans, among others, listed as being good for
Athlon & Sempron but I don't know if this is a specific design feature.

So my question is: does any Athlon-intended heatsink also fit a Sempron?
Click to expand...

All the desktop Sempr0n chips designed for Socket A (ie everything up
to and including the 3000+, but not the 3100+ or any of the mobile
chips) use the exact same heatsinks as AthlonXP chips. Generally
speaking if you subtract 300 points from the Sempr0n rating you'll get
the AthlonXP rating, ie a Sempron 2800+ is basically the same as an
AthlonXP 2500+. So, any heatsink that is listed as being good enough
for an AthlonXP 2500+ should work just fine on a Sempr0n 2800+ and
vice versa.
 
Tony Hill said:
Yup, same heatsink because it's the same processor, just labeled
differently. A Sempr0n 2400+ is the same exact chip as an AthlonXP
"Thornton" core, and would get roughly a 2100+ rating as an AthlonXP
if such a chip existed.

FWIW I've purchased a Sempr0n 2400+ a little while back and had to use
the heatsink that came with the chip on my AthlonXP and took the
heatsink that had been on the AthlonXP and used it on the Sempr0n.
Works just fine.


All the desktop Sempr0n chips designed for Socket A (ie everything up
to and including the 3000+, but not the 3100+ or any of the mobile
chips) use the exact same heatsinks as AthlonXP chips. Generally
speaking if you subtract 300 points from the Sempr0n rating you'll get
the AthlonXP rating, ie a Sempron 2800+ is basically the same as an
AthlonXP 2500+. So, any heatsink that is listed as being good enough
for an AthlonXP 2500+ should work just fine on a Sempr0n 2800+ and
vice versa.
Click to expand...


my Sempron is clocked at 10 x 222Mhz = 2222Mhz, memory timing = 8.5 - 4 -
4 - 2.5

what would be the performance rating?
 
Tony said:
All the desktop Sempr0n chips designed for Socket A (ie everything up
to and including the 3000+, but not the 3100+ or any of the mobile
chips) use the exact same heatsinks as AthlonXP chips. Generally
speaking if you subtract 300 points from the Sempr0n rating you'll get
the AthlonXP rating, ie a Sempron 2800+ is basically the same as an
AthlonXP 2500+. So, any heatsink that is listed as being good enough
for an AthlonXP 2500+ should work just fine on a Sempr0n 2800+ and
vice versa.
Click to expand...

I've been pricing them lately for some family, and my impression is that
if you add 200 points to an AthlonXP rating you get its Sempron rating,
not 300 points.

Yousuf Khan
 
my Sempron is clocked at 10 x 222Mhz = 2222Mhz, memory timing = 8.5 - 4 -
4 - 2.5

what would be the performance rating?
Click to expand...

Uhhh.. pretty much the same as an AthlonXP 2000+ that has had it's bus
speed overclocked to 222MHz? :>

Seriously though, it's probably around the same performance as an
AthlonXP 3000+ or 3200+ running at it's standard clock speed.
 
I've been pricing them lately for some family, and my impression is that
if you add 200 points to an AthlonXP rating you get its Sempron rating,
not 300 points.
Click to expand...

Well, actually it varies from one chip to the next. For example, the
Sempron 2400+ and the AthlonXP 2000+ are both available as chip with a
1667MHz clock speed, 333MT/s bus speed and 256KB of L2 cache. So in
this case you would add 400 points to the AthlonXP rating to get it's
Sempr0n rating. For the AthlonXP 2600+ though, it's only just a
little bit faster than a Sempr0n 2800, probably about the same as a
2900+ if such a chip existed.

Basically the rating is more than a bit arbitrary and, like with the
AthlonXP, there are sometimes multiple different versions of the
Sempron with the same rating but different specs.

Either way, they make a pretty darn good chip for someone looking for
a budget PC. Newegg.com carries a Sempr0n 2400+ for only $63, and
that is a "good enough" chip for the vast majority of users out there.
The closest Intel chip to that price point would probably be the
Celeron D 315 (2.26GHz), which is both a slower processor and few
dollars more expensive at $68. it's even better value if you crank
the clock speed up to 400MT/s (rather trivial with the Sempron 2400+
and results in nothing other than the processor being overclocked).
 
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