A visual look
Let's take a visual look first.Winchester 3000+
Our sample was an off-the-shelf, untested retail package. A sealed box guaranteed that it wasn't hand-picked for review purposes.
A retail package includes the processor, obviously, an AMD-approved heatsink that's an absolute doddle to attach, and a set of warranty papers. The heatsink clips in one side of a motherboard's retention bracket and is secured on the other by a lever. Nothing could be simpler. AMD includes a TIM, which is needed to make the best contact with the CPU's heatspreader. The fan is also pretty quiet in use.
The codes etched into the heatspreader aren't as important as they once were. We can tell it's an Athlon 64 3000+ week 41 CPU, and that' about it.
Socket-939 in all its pin glory. The same pin count covers the 3000+ through to FX-55. You pay extra for a faster core speed and greater levels of L2 cache.
The latest iteration of CPU-Z correctly identifies the CPU as a 90nm Winchester. The test EPoX 9NDA3+ S939 motherboard slightly inflates the driven clock speed. Some motherboards may need BIOS updates to fully support 90nm CPUs. Downclocking an Athlon 64 3800+ to 3000+ levels and running both CPUs at their default voltages showed a load temperature difference of around 5c in favour of this 90nm CPU. I bet Intel would love the same kind of results with its 90nm Prescott core.
