This review doesn't really add anything to what is already common knowledge on the web.
1. The world already knew the Turions are cherry-picked undervolted desktop chips. The "PowerNow" support is simply a microcode change performed when the processors are speedbinned.
2. The world has known for some time that Athlon 64s on the 0.09 micron process are power misers.
Tom's Hardware did the same test you did on the Winchester core Athlon 64 way back in November 2004, and found in the range of 1.8 GHz to 2.2 GHz, the cores used 29-32w at full-load, and ~4w at idle. In fact, Tom's tests are the reason I bought a Winchester core at the time.
As for the review, I must question your use of the Newcastle core. The Newcastle core is OLD, 0.13 micron technology, and that is the reason it runs at 1.5v. If you had used a modern desktop Socket 939 procesor, you would have found they have similar power usage to the Turion-ML.
I also took issue with your recommendation of the Turion, calling it COMPETITIVELY priced compared to desktop systems.
Quote:
Now, quiet-oriented system integrators could easily offer extremely quiet, high performance, and power-efficient Turion-based desktop systems at prices very competitive with equivalent performance Athlon 64 systems
Your claims just don't stack up. You started by claiming that a Turion platform would be cheap because some Socket 754 boards can be had for under $50. But then you discovered that most older boards (ie, cheap, used boards) don't support Turions correctly, and that ATI chipset board you settled on costs more in the $70 range (same as some Socket 939 boards).
Secondly, did you people even bother to price Turions before you wrote that crap? They have a huge price premium over equivilant-perfoming desktop chips. For example, the
Athlon 64 3200+ s939 costs $140 on Pricewatch. Equivilant performance Turions go for
$230 (ML-40) and
$270 (MT-40). Considering that the only difference between the ML and desktop chips is a tiny difference in idle wattage, and considering how few places sell Turion chips to the public, how can you justify reccommending Turions unless people are going to shell out for the MT series?.
I mean, really, if you want a CHEAP, low-power machine that can do anything except play newer games, its very simple: buy the cheapest Venice core Socket 939 Athlon 64, or a used Winchester core.. Undervolt that sucker to 1.1v, and see how high you can clock it. You're guaranteed 1.0 GHz as a minimum (thanks to the requirements of Cool 'n Quiet), and hell, even my old Winchester can do 1.2GHz at 1.1v.
At that speed range and voltage, your processor uses 10w or less at full load, and that can easily be passively-cooled.