Running an extremely hot CPU is a lot like overclocking. In a way, AMD is doing the overclocking. They are setting the clock speeds of the Thoroughbred as high as possible while still retaining stability. However, when AMD pushes things, you had better own a dang good cooling system. Not only do you need a highly rated CPU cooler, you also need to use high quality thermal paste and have a well cooled computer case. These things are not an option with the 2200+, they are mandatory!

     When I picked up the 2200+, it was also time to upgrade my motherboard. Back in the late 90s when overclocking became a serious sport, ABIT was the first company to publicly acknowledge the benefits of overclocking and began to support the Overclocker with high quality motherboards with incredible overclocking abilities. I have never owned a bad ABIT board so I went with the ABIT KX7-333R. Once again, ABIT knows how to make their customers happy and I'm very pleased with the KX7-333R.

     As I assembled my new system, I knew in the back of my head that I would probably have to upgrade the motherboard's bios so that it would properly recognize and support the Thoroughbred core. Normally, you don't really need to upgrade the bios in a motherboard, but this time I found out that it was mandatory. I soon as I discovered that without the proper bios upgrade, the board and CPU would consistently fail. At first I was a bit scared as I thought the CPU was hotter and more unstable than expected. Amazingly, once I flashed the motherboard's bios with version kx79k all my problems went away and the system runs 100% stable. If you are running a Thoroughbred CPU, I can't stress enough that you MUST have the correct bios version to support the CPU. If you are one of the unlucky people who can't keep the Thoroughbred running smooth, this may be your problem. Regardless of what motherboard you are running, check to see if you need a bios update to support the Thoroughbred.

Core ID

     Okay, now that the bios has been updated, I'm ready to hit the testing. But first, let's take a look at the CPU core ID so people can compare their CPU performance. Shown in the label below, the CPU ID is AXD A 2200 K V 3 C with AIRGA as a stepping code. The stepping code was once a good way to identify the best batch of CPUs, but now days the code means very little, if anything at all.

Technical Info

     Because there is very little difference between the Thoroughbred core and the last other than size and voltage, I'm going to skip the technical mumbo jumbo. Besides, most people don't care about all the technical stuff anyway. They just want to see how it performs! There are pages and pages of info on the Athlon XP processor so if you want to read up on it, head on over to AMD's site and download the PDF files.