The AMD Athlon64 3500+ processor overclocked to just above 3 GHz is plenty fast, but I wanted to see how things played out for a CPU with 1MB of L2 cache. An Athlon64 4000+ or FX processor would have been the best choice if money wasn't an issue, but let's face it, these processors are expensive and not in everyone's price range.

When the more affordable 2.2GHz Athlon64 3700+ CPUs started popping up, it was an easy choice to make. Although they are clocked at the same speed as the previous generation of Athlon64 3500+ processors, the 3700+ boasts a sexy 1MB of L2 cache and 90nm manufacturing.

The only concern was whether the San Diego core was affected by the same Winchester "cold bug" which drove hardcore users crazy. Luckily the processor did not appear to be affected, and overclocks quite nicely in a sub zero environment.

Even with just a heatsink and fan cooling the AMD Athlon64 3700+ processor, it was an excellent overclocker. In our tests the CPU reached 2.81GHz with 1.5V.

The Thermalright XP90 heatsink and 80mm Vantec Tornado fan were able to keep temperatures in the 50 degree Celsius area. In many cases the Athlon64 3700+ clocked at 2.81 GHz performed faster than an Athlon64 3500+ running along at 3.05 GHz, thanks of course to the larger L2 cache. The benchmark results illustrate nicely how important L2 cache size is to 3D applications and games.

Seeing how well the Venice/San Diego core overclocked for others around the web, I was quietly hoping to hit 3.3 GHz with the Prometeia Mach II GT and Athlon 3700+ processor. After putting the chip under the freezer, the maximum stable speed we were able to coax from it was just 3.22 GHz (with 1.7V). This is a fairly average overclock for this processor. If you're interested in overclocking the Athlon64 3700+ is a great CPU for the purpose, even with just a performance heatsink and fan.

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