Bij Sharky Extreme hebben ze een review online geschopt van een vet KryoTech Cool Athlon 900 systeem. Klein nadeeltje is dat de L2 cache speed omlaag is geschroefd om het zaakie goed te laten functioneren. Volgens Mr. Campanaro hakt dit zo erg in de performance dat een P3-800 / i820 het vaak wint van deze KryoTech config. Hieronder een gedeelte:
They disclosed to us that in order to hit 900MHz from a normal Athlon 700 CPU (which obviously is designed by AMD to run at 700MHz) they had to make a modification to the basic Athlon CPU's specifications.This modification is the physical reduction in speed of the Athlon's off-die L2 cache from its stock level of 1/2 of the CPU's core speed, to 1/3 of the CPU's core speed when used in the Cool Athlon 900.
While the Athlon CPU cores have proven themselves to be strong overclocking companions, their off-die L2 cache has unfortunately not, particularly in the Athlon 650 and 700 models.
Eerily similar to Katmai Pentium III 550 and 600 CPUs, which were also very limited by the speed rating of their own off-die L2 cache components, the Athlon CPUs are hampered when overclocking by the quality level and speed rating of their externally produced L2 cache.
