HELP:how to calculate proper cpu power?

[vannipule]

hi guys i know that this will look like a stupid question but as im new to amd i have this question to do : my pc is a AMD Athlon(tm) 64 processor 3700+ and 2.2 Ghz right, so what is my cpu? 2.2ghz right,so 3700+ is what?
now what i think is(and if a have it wrong plz answer me)that the 2.2ghz is my cpu and the 3700+ is the biggest cpu i can install on my mobo.and if i wanna put a let say 4.0 ghz cpu i have to change mobo.
i will wait for your feedback pls.
10x ivan-malta

[Joe Forster/STA]

The AMD Athlon 3700+ runs at a nominal frequency of 2.2 GHz but it has the performance of an Intel Pentium 4 of a nominal frequency of 3.7 GHz. I'm sure you can read more about this at the AMD homepage. Also, I think motherboard manuals use these "effective performance" names for AMD CPU's so you don't have to convert them back to nominal frequencies yourself.

[vannipule]

10x very much i got it, so the 3700+ is the cpu and if i would like to upgrade to a bigger cpu the next should be 3800+,4000+,4200+,4400+etc.. right?and the 64,64fx,fx60 etc..is the mobo i presume

[Joe Forster/STA]

Yeah, the effective performance (virtual frequency) and the nominal frequency increase (or decrease) in parallel. (On a given processor family, that is. With a next-generation CPU, a lower nominal frequency can have a higher effective performance: better optimization, more pipelines, more cores, more parallelization etc.)

As for "64" in the CPU name, it means a 64-bit CPU (rather than the previous generation of 32-bit CPU's); "FX" is some subtype (I'm not up-to-date with current CPU namings; see AMD's homepage for more infos). If you buy such a CPU, make sure to buy a motherboard that explicitly supports it (the motherboard manual and the product page at the manufacturer's site has such a list).

[kosmiq]

the name FX is amd's line of A64 cpu's made for gaming. Not that there is some real difference in terms of performance its only that they have higher clocks and more cache out of the box.

Moreover when you are upgrading be sure to check for more then the + rating. As example: 4000+ is single core clocked to 2.4GHz while the 4400+ is a dual-core cpu with 2 cores clocked to 2.2GHz (correct me if I am wront, not remembering the exact numbers here) and the 4600+ has both cores at the same speed as the 4400+ BUT has larger L2 cache.

[Eagle]

The AMD Athlon 3700+ runs at a nominal frequency of 2.2 GHz but it has the performance of an Intel Pentium 4 of a nominal frequency of 3.7 GHz.

Sorry, you are wrong.
It has the same performance as an AMD Thunderbird with 3700MHz.
AMD never officially ;) compared their new CPU's against Intels.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Wow, another white spot in my knowledge has been cleared up, thanks! :D