CPU History Tour (2003 - 2008)

Published: 27th June 2021 (last update 27th June 2021 )

Fourth part of the CPU benchmark project. Explore the golden age of AMD when Athlon 64 was the top processor. Later, Intel's comeback with Core 2 completely changed the balance of power.

Introduction

This article is the fourth part of huge benchmark project. The purpose of this project is to follow development of x86 processors starting in year 1995 and up to present time. The whole project is too big to fit into single article, so there will be multiple parts, each of them with slightly adjusted methodology but still similar enough to compare processors from one part to another. The point is to measure performance of software newer than tested HW, to determine how future-proof were the selected architectures and processors based on them. You can find popular benchmarks, games and real-life applications tested here.

Tested Processors

	Athlon 64 FX-51	Athlon 64 3400+	Athlon 64 3200+	Athlon 64 3700+	Athlon 64 X2 3800+	2 × Opteron 248	Opteron 254	2 × Opteron 254	2 × Opteron 280
Socket	Socket 940	Socket 754	Socket 939	Socket 939	Socket 939	Socket 940	Socket 940	Socket 940	Socket 940
Cores / Threads	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	2/2	1/1	2/2	4/4
Frequency	2200 MHz	2400 MHz	2000 MHz	2200 MHz	2000 MHz	2200 MHz	2800 MHz	2800 MHz	2400 MHz
Multiplier	11×	12×	10×	11×	10×	11×	14×	14×	12x
Bus Speed	2000 MHz / 32bit	1600 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit
Bus Type	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT
FSB Bandwidth	8 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s
Architecture	K8	K8	K8	K8	K8	K8	K8	K8	K8
Code Name	SledgeHammer	NewCastle	Winchester	San Diego	Manchester	Troy	Troy	Troy	Italy
Technology	130 nm	130 nm	90 nm	90 nm	90 nm	90 nm	90 nm	90 nm	90 nm
Transistor Count	105,9 mil.	68,5 mil.	77 mil.	114 mil.	154 mil.	2 × 114 mil.	114 mil.	2 × 114 mil.	2 × 233 mil.
Die Size	193 mm²	144 mm²	84 mm²	115 mm²	147 mm²	2 × 115 mm²	115 mm²	2 × 115 mm²	2 × 199 mm²
Transistor Density	0.55 M / mm²	0.48 M / mm²	0.92 M / mm²	0.99 M / mm²	1.05 M / mm²	0.99 M / mm²	0.99 M / mm²	0.99 M / mm²	1.17 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	2 × 64 / 64 kB	2 × 64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	2 × 64 / 64 kB	4 × 64 / 64 kB
L2 Cache	1024 kB	512 kB	512 kB	1024 kB	2 × 512 kB	2 × 1024 kB	1024 kB	2 × 1024 kB	4 × 1024 kB
L3 Cache	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
RAM Capacity	4 GB	2 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB
RAM Type	ECC Reg. DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR	DDR
RAM Speed	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit
RAM Bandwidth	6.4 GB/s	3.2 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s
Motherboard	MSI K8N Master2	Asus K8N4-E Deluxe	Asus A8N-E	Asus A8N-E	Asus A8N-E	MSI K8N Master2	MSI K8N Master2	MSI K8N Master2	MSI K8N Master2
Chipset	Nvidia nForce Pro	Nvidia nForce4-4X	Nvidia nForce4	Nvidia nForce4	Nvidia nForce4	Nvidia nForce Pro	Nvidia nForce Pro	Nvidia nForce Pro	Nvidia nForce Pro
TDP	89 W	89 W	67 W	89 W	89 W	2 × 85 W	68 W	2 × 68 W	2 × 68 W
Launch Date	23.09.2003	2004	14.10.2004	04.05.2005	01.08.2005	12/2004	08/2005	08/2005	26.09.2005
Launch Price	$733				$354		$851	$1702	$2598

	Athlon 64 3000+ (AM2)	Athlon 64 LE-1640	Athlon 64 X2 4000+	Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (Brisbane)	Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (Winsdor)	Athlon 64 X2 6400+	Phenom X4 9100e	Phenom X4 9650	2 × Opteron 2218
Socket	Socket AM2	Socket AM2	Socket AM2	Socket AM2	Socket AM2	Socket AM2	Socket AM2+	Socket AM2+	Socket F
Cores / Threads	1/1	1/1	2/2	2/2	2/2	2/2	4/4	4/4	4/4
Frequency	1800 MHz	1800 MHz	2100 MHz	2600 MHz	2600 MHz	3200 MHz	1800 MHz	2300 MHz	2600 MHz
Multiplier	9×	9×	10.5×	13×	13×	16×	9×	11.5×	13x
Bus Speed	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 32bit	3200 MHz / 32bit	3600 MHz / 32bit	2000 MHz / 64-bit
Bus Type	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT	HT
FSB Bandwidth	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	14.4 GB/s	16 GB/s
Architecture	K8	K8	K8	K8	K8	K8	K10	K10	K8
Code Name	Orleans	Orleans	Brisbane	Brisbane	Winsdor	Winsdor	Agena	Agena	Santa Rosa
Technology	90 nm	90 nm	65 nm	65 nm	90 nm	90 nm	65 nm	65 nm	90 nm
Transistor Count	81 mil.	164 mil.	154 mil.	154 mil.	154 mil.	227 mil.	450 mil.	450 mil.	2 × 227 mil.
Die Size	103 mm²	144 mm²	118 mm²	118 mm²	183 mm²	230 mm²	285 mm²	285 mm²	2 × 230 mm²
Transistor Density	0.79 M / mm²	1.14 M / mm²	1.31 M / mm²	1.31 M / mm²	0.84 M / mm²	0.99 M / mm²	1.58 M / mm²	1.58 M / mm²	0.99 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	2 × 64 / 64 kB	2 × 64 / 64 kB	2 × 64 / 64 kB	2 × 64 / 64 kB	4 × 64 / 64 kB	4 × 64 / 64 kB	4 × 64 / 64 kB
L2 Cache	512 kB	1024 kB	2 × 512 kB	2 × 512 kB	2 × 512 kB	2 × 1024 kB	4 × 512 kB	4 × 512 kB	4 × 1024 kB
L3 Cache	-	-	-	-	-	-	2048 kB / 1.6 GHz	2048 kB / 1.8 GHz	-
RAM Capacity	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	8 GB
RAM Type	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	ECC Reg. DDR2
RAM Speed	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	650 MHz / 256-bit
RAM Bandwidth	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	20.5 GB/s
Motherboard	MSI K9A2 Platinum	MSI K9A2 Platinum	MSI K9A2 Platinum	MSI K9A2 Platinum	MSI K9A2 Platinum	MSI K9A2 Platinum	MSI K9A2 Platinum	MSI K9A2 Platinum	Tyan n3600M
Chipset	AMD 790FX	AMD 790FX	AMD 790FX	AMD 790FX	AMD 790FX	AMD 790FX	AMD 790FX	AMD 790FX	Nvidia nForce Pro
TDP	62 W	45 W	65 W	65 W	89 W	125 W	65 W	95 W	2 × 95 W
Launch Date	23.05.2006	07.01.2008	05.12.2006	05.12.2006	23.05.2006	20.07.2007	27.03.2008	27.03.2008	15.08.2006
Launch Price			$169	$301	$696	$239		$215	$1746

	2 × Opteron 2224 SE	2 × Opteron 2356	Sempron 2600+	Sempron 3000+	Pentium 4 531	Pentium 4 640	Pentium 4 651	Pentium 4 651 @ 4.8 GHz	Pentium D 805
Socket	Socket F	Socket F	Socket 754	Socket 939	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775
Cores / Threads	4/4	8/8	1/1	1/1	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2	2/2
Frequency	3200 MHz	2300 MHz	1600 MHz	1800 MHz	3000 MHz	3200 MHz	3400 MHz	4800 MHz	2666 MHz
Multiplier	16x	11.5×	8x	9×	15x	16×	17×	17×	20×
Bus Speed	2000 MHz / 64-bit	2000 MHz / 64-bit	1600 MHz / 32bit	1600 MHz / 32bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	1129 MHz / 64-bit	533 MHz / 64-bit
Bus Type	HT	HT	HT	HT	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR
FSB Bandwidth	16 GB/s	16 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	9 GB/s	4.3 GB/s
Architecture	K8	K10	K8	K8	Netburst	Netburst	Netburst	Netburst	Netburst
Code Name	Santa Rosa	Barcelona	Palermo	Palermo	Prescott	Prescott	Cedar Mill	Cedar Mill	SmithField
Technology	90 nm	65 nm	90 nm	90 nm	90 nm	90 nm	65 nm	65 nm	90 nm
Transistor Count	2 × 227 mil.	2 × 450 mil.	76 mil.	76 mil.	125 mil.	169 mil.	188 mil.	188 mil.	230 mil.
Die Size	2 × 230 mm²	2 × 285 mm²	84 mm²	84 mm²	112 mm²	135 mm²	81 mm²	81 mm²	206 mm²
Transistor Density	0.99 M / mm²	1.58 M / mm²	0.90 M / mm²	0.90 M / mm²	1.12 M / mm²	1.25 M / mm²	2.32 M / mm²	2.32 M / mm²	1.12 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	4 × 64 / 64 kB	4 × 64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	64 / 64 kB	16 / 12 kB	16 / 12 kB	16 / 12 kB	16 / 12 kB	2 × 16 / 12 kB
L2 Cache	4 × 1024 kB	4 × 512 kB	128 kB	128 kB	1024 kB	2048 kB	2048 kB	2048 kB	2 × 1024 kB
L3 Cache	-	2 × 2048 kB / 1.8 GHz	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
RAM Capacity	12 GB	12 GB	2 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB
RAM Type	ECC Reg. DDR2	ECC Reg. DDR2	DDR	DDR	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2
RAM Speed	640 MHz / 256-bit	666 MHz / 256-bit	400 MHz / 64-bit	400 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	533 MHz / 128-bit
RAM Bandwidth	20.5 GB/s	21.3 GB/s	3.2 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	8.5 GB/s
Motherboard	Tyan n3600M	Tyan n3600M	Asus K8N4-E Deluxe	Asus A8N-E	Asus P5WDG2	Asus P5WDG2	Asus P5WDG2	Asus P5WDG2	Asus P5WDG2
Chipset	Nvidia nForce Pro	Nvidia nForce Pro	Nvidia nForce4-4x	Nvidia nForce4	Intel 975X	Intel 975X	Intel 975X	Intel 975X	Intel 975X
TDP	2 × 119 W	2 × 115 W	62 W	62 W	84 W	84 W	65 W	120* W	95 W
Launch Date	05.08.2007	09.04.2008	08/2004	10/2005	12.06.2005	20.02.2005	16.04.2006	16.04.2006	12/2005
Launch Price	$1746	$1380			$68	$273	$273	$273	$143

	Pentium D 820	Pentium D 945	Core 2 Duo E6300	Core 2 Duo E6600	Core 2 Duo E6750	Core 2 Extreme QX6700	Core 2 Extreme QX9650	Xeon 5080 (5000P)	Xeon 5080 (P35)
Socket	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 771	Socket 771
Cores / Threads	2/2	2/2	2/2	2/2	2/2	4/4	4/4	2/4	2/4
Frequency	2800 MHz	3400 MHz	1866 MHz	2400 MHz	2666 MHz	2666 MHz	3000 MHz	3733 MHz	3733 MHz
Multiplier	14×	17×	7×	9×	8×	10×	9×	14x	14x
Bus Speed	800 MHz / 64-bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	1066 MHz / 64-bit	1066 MHz / 64-bit	1333 MHz / 64-bit	1066 MHz / 64-bit	1333 MHz / 64-bit	1066 MHz / 64-bit	1066 MHz / 64-bit
Bus Type	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR
FSB Bandwidth	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	8.5 GB/s	8.5 GB/s	10.7 GB/s	8.5 GB/s	10.7 GB/s	8.5 GB/s	8.5 GB/s
Architecture	Netburst	Netburst	Core 2	Core 2	Core 2	Core 2	Core 2	Netburst	Netburst
Code Name	SmithField	Presler	Conroe	Conroe	Conroe	Kentsfield	Yorkfield	Dempsey	Dempsey
Technology	90 nm	65 nm	65 nm	65 nm	65 nm	65 nm	45 nm	65 nm	65 nm
Transistor Count	230 mil.	376 mil.	291 mil.	291 mil.	291 mil.	582 mil.	820 mil.	376 mil.	376 mil.
Die Size	206 mm²	162 mm²	143 mm²	143 mm²	143 mm²	286 mm²	214 mm²	162 mm²	162 mm²
Transistor Density	1.12 M / mm²	2.32 M / mm²	2.03 M / mm²	2.03 M / mm²	2.03 M / mm²	2.03 M / mm²	3.83 M / mm²	2.32 M / mm²	2.32 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	2 × 16 / 12 kB	2 × 16 / 12 kB	2 × 32 / 32 kB	2 × 32 / 32 kB	2 × 32 / 32 kB	4 × 32 / 32 kB	4 × 32 / 32 kB	2 × 16 / 12 kB	2 × 16 / 12 kB
L2 Cache	2 × 1024 kB	2 × 2048 kB	2048 kB	4096 kB	4096 kB	2 × 4096 kB	2 × 6144 kB	2 × 2048 kB	2 × 2048 kB
L3 Cache	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
RAM Capacity	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	8 GB	4 GB
RAM Type	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	FB-DDR2	DDR2
RAM Speed	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	667 MHz / 256-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit
RAM Bandwidth	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	21.3 GB/s	12.8 GB/s
Motherboard	Asus P5WDG2	Asus P5WDG2	Asus P5WDG2	Asus P5WDG2	Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3	Asus P5WDG2	Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3	Intel S5000PSL	Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3
Chipset	Intel 975X	Intel 975X	Intel 975X	Intel 975X	Intel P35	Intel 975X	Intel P35	Intel 5000P	Intel P35
TDP	95 W	95 W	65 W	65 W	65 W	130 W	130 W	130 W	130 W
Launch Date	26.05.2005	23.07.2006	27.07.2006	27.07.2006	16.07.2007	14.11.2006	11.11.2007	23.05.2006	23.05.2006
Launch Price	$241	$163	$183	$316	$183	$999	$999	$851	$851

	2 × Xeon 5050	2 × Xeon 5130	2 × Xeon E5335	Celeron D336	Celeron 420	Pentium E2180	Pentium E2180 @ 3.33 GHz
Socket	Socket 771	Socket 771	Socket 771	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775	Socket 775
Cores / Threads	4/8	4/4	8/8	1/1	1/1	2/2	2/2
Frequency	3000 MHz	2000 MHz	2333 MHz	2800 MHz	1600 MHz	2000 MHz	3333 MHz
Multiplier	18x	6×	7×	21×	8×	10×	10×
Bus Speed	667 MHz / 128-bit	1333 MHz / 128-bit	1333 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	800 MHz / 64-bit	1333 MHz / 64-bit
Bus Type	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR	QDR
FSB Bandwidth	10.7 GB/s	21.3 GB/s	21.3 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	6.4 GB/s	10.7 GB/s
Architecture	Netburst	Core 2	Core 2	Netburst	Core 2	Core 2	Core 2
Code Name	Dempsey	Woodcrest	Clovewtown	Prescott	Conroe-L	Conroe-1M	Conroe-1M
Technology	65 nm	65 nm	65 nm	90 nm	65 nm	65 nm	65 nm
Transistor Count	2 × 376 mil.	2 × 291 mil.	2 × 582 mil.	125 mil.	105 mil.	105 mil.	105 mil.
Die Size	2 × 162 mm²	2 × 143 mm²	2 × 286 mm²	112 mm²	77 mm²	77 mm²	77 mm²
Transistor Density	2.32 M / mm²	2.03 M / mm²	2.03 M / mm²	1.12 M / mm²	1.36 M / mm²	1.36 M / mm²	1.36 M / mm²
L1 Cache I / D	4 × 16 / 12 kB	4 × 32 / 32 kB	8 × 32 / 32 kB	16 / 12 kB	32 / 32 kB	2 × 32 / 32 kB	2 × 32 / 32 kB
L2 Cache	4 × 2048 kB	2 × 4096 kB	4 × 4096 kB	1024 kB	512 kB	1024 kB	1024 kB
L3 Cache	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
RAM Capacity	8 GB	8 GB	8 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB	4 GB
RAM Type	FB-DDR2	FB-DDR2	FB-DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2	DDR2
RAM Speed	333 MHz / 256-bit	667 MHz / 256-bit	667 MHz / 256-bit	533 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit	800 MHz / 128-bit
RAM Bandwidth	10.6 GB/s	21.3 GB/s	21.3 GB/s	8.5 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s	12.8 GB/s
Motherboard	Intel S5000PSL	Intel S5000PSL	Intel S5000PSL	Asus P5WDG2	Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3	Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3	Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3
Chipset	Intel 5000P	Intel 5000P	Intel 5000P	Intel 975X	Intel P35	Intel P35	Intel P35
TDP	2 × 95 W	2 × 65 W	2 × 80 W	84 W	35 W	65 W	65 W
Launch Date	23.05.2006	26.06.2006	14.11.2006	27.06.2005	06/2007	26.08.2007	26.08.2007
Launch Price	$354	$632	$1380		$39	$84	$84

Note: values marked with * are estimated. Official information is either unavailable or these are overclocked units.