[Pc_Support] Re: ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? -- ViA C3/C7 v. AMD Geode NX ...

[Bryan J. Smith]

On 10/6/06, Bryan J. Smith <thebs413 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Of course, there are the Geode NX products that use 6-14W:
> http://www.amd.com/us-en/ConnectivitySolutions/ProductInformation/0,,50_2330_9863_10837%5E10858,00.html
> I just can't find them CPU-only.  If I could, I'd buy them instead.

I found some ALU, Multimedia and Memory benchmarks comparing the ViA
C3 1.0-1.3GHz, VT-310 (dual-processor C3) and ViA C7 1.5GHz and versus
the AMD Geode NX 1.0GHz (NX1500 -- essentially a low-power Athlon
Model 10 128+256KiB L1+L2) here:
http://www.epiacenter.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=88&page=4

AMD rates the Geode NX versus the ViA solutions, and AMD is still
being way too conservative!  The "1500" (1.0GHz) _roasts_ the ViA C7
1.5GHz.  I guess someone wasn't kidding when they said the 500MHz C3
is slower than a 266MHz Pentium II.  I've been using 400MHz C3s in
embedded but they were only doing basic networking.

I still can't find the AMD Geode NX on its own, much less the fanless
1250/1500 models (667MHz/1.0GHz) models that use 1.0-1.1V.  I can only
find the Geode NX 1750 (1.4GHz) model that uses 1.25V in MicroATX (I
thought I saw a MicroATX too) form-factors.  Although at 1.25V, it
probably works in any modern Socket-A (462) mainboard.  And I guess I
could always try under-clocking/under-volting.

I'm tempted to buy that nForce2 IGP SFF and a PCChips board (which is
essentially the Geode NX1750 reference MicroATX mainboard with the
SiS741GX chipset) and moving the processor.