Athlon XP goes up a notch

By Alun Williams

Posted on 2 Oct 2002 at 12:39

AMD speeds up its Athlon XP desktop processor, in the shape of the Athlon 2800+ and 2700+ models.

More than just a point release, the new top of the range Athlon XP 2800+ features a new 333 front-side bus (FSB). With this delivering 2.7Gb/sec memory bandwidth, AMD is claiming throughput gains of as much as 25 percent.

AMD made the announcement of the models yesterday, but expect system availability for the new processors in late November.

Whereas the 2600+ operated at a frequency of 2.13GHz, the new 2800+ runs at 2.25GHz and the 2700+ at 2.17Ghz.

'Digital entertainment, particularly gaming, is driving the need for innovative technology to enhance the overall computing experience for today's PC users,' said Ed Ellett, AMD's VP of Client Business. 'The AMD Athlon XP processor 2800+ with its advanced 333 FSB is the ultimate processor for PC customers who demand the highest levels of performance.'

The price of the 2800+ processor is $397, based on 1,000 unit quantities, and the 2700+ is $349.