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CPU: AMD ATHLON 64 FX-51 Review :: The AMD 64 FX-51 CPU
 The term 64-bit may seem a bit confusing to some as it is not more Megahertz but the ability to double the amount of a data the CPU can process per clock cycle. 64-bit software will not improve mundane programs such as Word or Excel but will show its true potential in more demanding applications such as smoother faster video encoding and in the more math complex programs such as CAD or Maya. 64-bit CPU's can address up to 16 exabytes of RAM (16 billion gigabytes) while 32-bit processors can only address up to 4GB so there is plenty of headroom here to be taken advantage of when the programming catches up to the technology. Being able to function in both the 32-bit and 64-bit code environments seamlessly is where AMD is making a stand in an arena that at the moment offers no competition as even Intel's Itanium solution uses a slower emulated 32-bit environment and not true code support like the Athlon 64 series of processors. I am much more of a layman and straight out user than a scientist so if you want to read all about the exact in-depth specifications of AMD's 64-bit architecture you can read about them here, but bring lunch as it is quite the read and will lose most users in its abundance. Below are listed the main features of the new 64,s. HyperTransportGone are the days of chip-to-chip interconnects as AMD now uses their HyperTransport technology. The Athlon 64 series of CPU's are equipped with a HyperTransport link that operates at up to 800MHz DDR (1600MHz effective). When operating at peak performance a single HyperTransport link offers a maximum of 6.4GB/s of bandwidth twice that of Intel's Pentium 4 that maxes out at 800MHz half of AMD's 64's.  Translation Look-Aside BuffersIn a Clock-for-clock comparison the Athlon XP can handle more instructions than Intel's P4 even though it only has 10 pipelines versus Intel's 20 and still come out performing better, a thing that got Intel a lot of flack a while back as it was less efficient than AMD's solution. With the Athlon 64, AMD has increased the processor's pipeline to 12-stages. The Athlon 64 has larger Translation Look-Aside Buffers (TLB), with improved latency and improved branch prediction as well. What this means to you is that at similar clock speeds an Athlon 64 should outperform an Athlon XP in most circumstances. The FX-51 is definitely a much faster chip than its predecessors as shown in the performance comparisons. Integrated Memory ControllerThe new Athlon 64's have a new performance enhancing feature in is its integrated memory controller. On almost all the current processors, the Northbridge houses the memory controller that communicates with the CPU via the Front Side Bus (FSB). With the Athlon 64, the memory controller is now on the processor's die, which means memory traffic no longer has to travel out of the CPU to chipset and back. Being that the memory controller is now integrated into the CPU, it will run at the same speed as the host processor. This type of configuration drastically reduces latency, which should yield significant performance gains. One negative to having the memory controller integrated into the processor's die is that to support emerging memory technologies, like DDR2 for example, the controller has to be redesigned and the processor needs to be replaced.  L1, L2 On-Die CacheAMD released the Athlon XPs based on the "Barton" core which had double the amount of on-die L2 cache as the older "Thoroughbred" core chips. The Barton's on the other hand have 512KB of full-speed L2 cache instead of the Thoroughbred's 256K. The Athlon 64 series ups the ante again with a full 1MB (1024KB) of on-die L2 cache. With the addition of this added Cache users should find performance increases in applications requiring large amounts of data to be handled by the processor and main system memory. The only real drawback is that now the L2 cache of the Athlon 64 now has a die size of 193mm2, about twice the size of the Athlon XP driving up costs of the CPU. AMD says when they move to 90nm (.09-micron) manufacturing process next year, the subsequent die shrink will bring the die size on a comparable chip down to a smaller and cheaper 120mm2.
64-Bit ProcessingThe AMD x86-64 architecture can work on 64-bit, 32-bit and 16-bit operating systems each of which their legacy modes are supported for backward compatibility. The 64-bit mode has been enabled by extending the instruction set by adding the self-styled long mode to the number of execution modes. Long mode has two sub-modes, one is the 64 bit mode or the "compatibility mode" in which 32 and 16-bit operations are executed. In addition, the architecture supports legacy mode which encompasses running on a 32-bit or 16 bit operating system in either "Protected mode, "Virtual 8086" mode or "Real Mode" (for 16-bit legacy OS only). In other words, the CPU can run 32-bit and 16-bit operating systems as well as a 64-bit OS. The benefits of a 64-bit microprocessor architecture are mainly memory related; if you take two identical microprocessors, make one 64-bit and one 32-bit, the advantage of the 64-bit CPU is that it can address much more memory than the 32-bit CPU (2^64 vs. 2^32) The Athlon 64's ability to run all these different types of code makes it a very versatile processor all the way around.    AMD ATHLON 64 FX-51 SPEC CLARIFICATIONS:
AMD ATHLON 64 3200+ SPEC CLARIFICATIONS:
SPECS COMMON TO BOTH AMD ATHLON 64 and ATHLON 64 FX PROCESSORS
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