AMD Athlon MP 2200+ Server Roundup - September 2002

Athlon MP 2200+

As you can probably guess, the Athlon MP 2200+ is the first and currently the only Athlon MP processor based on AMD's 0.13-micron Thoroughbred core. The current samples of the Athlon MP are built on the original Thoroughbred-A core as the Thoroughbred-B production is currently devoted to the higher volume desktop market. AMD will eventually transition the Athlon MPs to the new Thoroughbred-B core but that will be a few months down the road, closer to the release of the Athlon MP 2400+ and 2600+.

Click to Enlarge - Athlon XP left, Athlon MP right

The Athlon MP 2200+ is virtually identical to the Athlon XP 2200+ with a couple of minor exceptions:

1) The "golden-bridges" on the surface of the CPU's substrate are not cut with trenches and thus are easier to unlock. AMD doesn't really have to worry about server manufacturers attempting to unlock and overclock these CPUs as reliability is a major selling point and sacrificing that is a definite turn-off. For those end users that wish to purchase Athlon MP parts to unlock and overclock them, the CPUs carry a pretty hefty price premium over their XP counterpart which outweighs any performance benefit you'd gain from overclocking.

2) The Athlon MP must go through AMD's 2P validation processes which also contributes to the delayed release after its desktop counterparts.

The architecture of the Athlon MP 2200+ is identical to its desktop and server predecessors; we'll spare you the details but if you aren't already intimately familiar with it here are some of our previous articles covering the various facets of the Athlon MP CPU and platform architecture:

AMD 760MP & Athlon MP - Dual Processor Heaven

AMD Athlon 4 - The Palomino is Here