AMD Athlon XP-M 2600+

5/17/04 - AMD's recent push into the 64-bit processor field means that the lifespan of the 32-bit AMD CPUs is coming to a close. However, for those looking for a bargin and willing to push the processors above their specification through overclocking have been lucky to find the OEM AMD Athlon XP-M.

The AMD Athlon XP-M line of CPUs are designed for the notebook market. They share all the same physical design specifications as the normal desktop CPUs, but they run at lower voltages and have unlocked multipliers that allow for better power usage. These attributes come in handy for those looking to overclock the CPU.

During testing, the XP-M 2600+ was easily able to match the XP 3200+ desktop processor by running at the same 200 x 11 or 2.2GHz clock speed at the default 1.65v for the desktop processors. In fact, the CPU was even able to obtain 2.5GHz on the testing motherboard that was the limit to the multipliers available. With a different motherboard with more multiplier settings, the processor could have even gone further.

Performance in benchmarking was very strong. This processor when overclocked should be able to handle any tasks thrown at it without a problem. As an added benefit, the processor also ran cooler at the 2.5GHz speed when compared to a XP 2500+ CPU running at 2.2GHz.

As a result, the XP-M line of processors is a great alternative to those looking to get the most out of their money, but those not interesting in overlocking should go with the normal XP.