Athlon XP-M/PowerNow for desktop system?

[Bruno Ducrot]

On Thu, Jan 13, 2005 at 11:05:03AM +0100, Stefan Walter wrote:
> [Reply-To set to freebsd-hardware@ - please send answers to that list
> only.]
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I'm currently thinking about replacing the Athlon 900 in my desktop
> machine with a more recent CPU, and I'd be interested in getting one of
> these Athlon XP-M "Low Power" CPUs. I think the mainboard - a MSI KT4AV-L
> (MS-6712) with VIA's KT400A chipset - supports those CPUs, but I'm not
> sure if I would be able to use their energy saving features with FreeBSD.
> I know about the powernow_k7 module [1], but not enough to say if it
> should work in this case or if there could be problems with desktop
> mainboards.
> 

Generally, for an ATX motherboard, you may be able to change the
multiplier of the CPU but not the voltage, the latter requiring a
VRM mobile part.  If this is a concern, you should consider an ITX form
but you have to be sure that one do have a VRM mobile part.

Of course, you may consider another kind of CPU if you need ATX form
(amd64 class, maybe sempron, if you want to stick with AMD, comes to
mind).

-- 
Bruno Ducrot

--  Which is worse:  ignorance or apathy?
--  Don't know.  Don't care.