AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 processor review by TechReport

[Babrbarossa]

A good review for the BE-2350 (hope it didn't cost AMD too much, they can't afford it- kidding!! . This CPU is designed for low temp/power (40w) consumption for small form factors. The great thing about it is that this sub-$100 chip overclocked to 3.0GHz @ 1.42V and outcompeted the e6300 at stock settings in some tests.


Power-wise, the BE-2350 lives up to its billing and is a worthy successor to the 35W version of the Athlon 64 X2 3800+—or it will be, provided AMD can actually supply these chips in sufficient volume. Our power consumption tests put the BE-2350 very close to its predecessor—just about 5W higher—both at idle and under load. Truth be told, the measured power is only part of the story. The power draw numbers we saw from the Core 2 Duo E4300 weren't bad, either, but its 65W TDP rating remains a sticking point. The fact that PC makers and chassis designers can count on a 45W TDP will make the BE-2350 very attractive to them. The BE-2350's low-power cred is enhanced by the availability of AMD's 690G chipset, as well. We've found the idle power consumption of Intel's G965 Express chipset to be substantially higher than the 690G. All of these factors, combined with its $91 price tag, make the Athlon X2 BE-2350 a stand-out value in a low-power processor. Then there's the fact I was able to get our review unit cranked up to 3GHz with nothing but a stock air cooler and a slight voltage bump. The low-power aspect goes out the window when the BE-2350 is flipping bits at 3003MHz and 1.425V, but then this puppy morphs into a high-performance processor the equal of anything AMD has to offer. I don't want to overstate things on this front; the Core 2 Duo E4300 is also known for ample overclocking headroom, and a 3GHz Athlon X2 isn't likely to match a Core 2 at 2.5GHz in overall performance. Still, for a cheap CPU that you may not mind frying in an evil overclocking experiment, the BE-2350 is hard to match, if most of them end up overclocking like ours did.


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[Patriote]

Originally Posted by Babrbarossa

...The great thing about it is that this sub-$100 chip overclocked to 3.0GHz @ 14.2V and outcompeted the e6300 at stock settings in some tests.

14.2v lol

When overclocked, it beats a stock E6700 ? Yeah i do realize that the E6700 isn't overclocked but still isn't that good ? Especially, since it's around 90$.

[Babrbarossa]

hehe- you know what I meant.

Once this chip is oc'd, it's no longer efficient, and it is still probably outperformed by an overclocked one of the new $100 pentiums. -still probably great for hpcs though

[Patriote]

Originally Posted by Babrbarossa

-still probably great for hpcs though

Yeah maybe. AMD's is like so not into it. Oh well!