July 15, 2001

-- Jon has some conflicting information concerning the actual processor in the FX210. Below is a post from an e-mail that he sent me.

I just downloaded the CPUID program from AMD, and the FX210 reports
itself as an "AMD Athlon(tm) Processor," unlike the Duron in my desktop
system, which says it really is a Duron.

Actually, CPUID says it's a Duron in one place, under CPU ID (1), but
says it's an "AMD Athlon(tm) Processor" in CPU ID (80000002.4).

They have another program, CPUINFO, that reports Duron on my desktop 
and
Athlon on the FX210.

Both the programs are old, though.  CPUID was issued June 2000, and
CPUINFO is dated August 2000.  They both report family, model and step
as 6, 3 and 1.

You can get them at http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/bin/.

If anyone has time please see what your machines report.

August 18,  2001

It has been awhile since I posted new information. A lot of that was due to the fact that I did not have anything new to post. That has changed.

I have had a number of people ask me if the AMD "mobile" Duron processor in our FX210 and FX215 laptops is actually a Mobile Duron or not.

Well, after doing some research using the AMD CPUID utility and reading the AMD Processor Recognition Application Note, I am led to believe that the processor in the FX210 and probably the FX215 is not a mobile Duron at all but a standard desktop Duron.

Below I have included links to the AMD CPUID utility, a simpler AMD CPU info utility, and the AMD Processor Application Note that I am referencing. I would encourage everyone to download the CPUID utility or the info utility and report back to me what it says about your laptop.

AMD CPUID utility

AMD CPU Info Utility

AMD Processor Recognition Application Note

Here is why I believe that we have the Desktop Duron and not a mobile Duron.

1. The CPUID Utility reports that the processor in my FX210 is a "AMD Duron(tm) Processor" (screen shot) . This information comes from the CPU ID (80000002..4) section of the CPUID utility. The exact same text string is also reported by the CPU info utility on the very first line (screen shot). According to the Processor Recognition Application Note (page 15) the mobile Duron processors should identify themselves as "mobile AMD Duron(tm) Processor"

2. The CPUID Utility (screen shot) reports my processor as:

According to the Application Note (page 10) the 800mhz mobile Duron processor should report as:

3. Furthermore, by digging into the extended functionality items, it can be determined that some features that should be present, if the processor was a mobile Duron, are not present on my processor.

For example the largest extended function supported on my processor is 0x80000006 (screen shot). If the processor was the mobile Duron then a value of 0x80000008 should be present here. Option 0x80000007 is the PowerNow! (page 16) support.

The list can go on quite a bit from here. The conclusion that I have drawn, at this point, is that the processor in my FX210 is not a mobile Duron at all but instead a standard Desktop Duron. Now the big question is what chip is in your FX210 and FX215 laptops?

Please download at least the CPU info utility and send me what it says. A screenshot would be even better. Microsoft has a free utility called HTML Help Workshop that is great for screen captures. Click on the link to download the utility.

The big question will be, if everyone has a standard Duron where do we go from here? (Are any of you lawyers?) I am sure that on the packaging that my FX210 came in it said "mobile Duron" but I will need to double check that.

August 28, 2001

Well first lets talk about the "mobile" Duron chip in our laptops. From the information I provided last time and, what some other people have been able to figure out, it looks like we have a mobile Duron chip that does not really exist. As everyone now knows the "mobile" Duron in our laptop is based on the model 3 or Spitfire core. The model 3/Spitfire core is the original core for the Duron chips. The "mobile" Duron that we all expected to get is based on the model 7 or Morgan core.

A big Thank you goes out to everyone who took the time to download the CPUID utilities, run them and respond back to me with their results. Everyone reported back the exact same information. Again thank you very, very much for your support.

The part number on our "mobile" Duron chips is: D800AVS1B

The Part numbers for the "mobile" Durons based on the model 7/Morgan core are: (To the individual who provided this info Thank you. Name withheld by request.)

900 Mobile AMD Duron Processor - 1.2 to 1.5V - DHM0900AQS1B

850 Mobile AMD Duron Processor - 1.2 to 1.5V - DHM0850ALS1B

800 Mobile AMD Duron Processor - 1.2 to 1.5V - DHM0800ALS1B

Why would we want a "mobile" Duron based on the model 7/Morgan core? Well among other things the model 7/Morgan core supports PowerNow!, SSE and other advanced features. The model 3/Spitfire core, this is what we have, does not support PowerNow!, SSE or any of these advanced features..

According to my research there is not supposed to be a "mobile" Duron at 800 Mhz, based on the model 3/Spitfire core. You can search all over the AMD web site. There are model 3/Spitfire "mobile" Duron's at 600 and 700 Mhz. These chips were introduced around January, 2001. As far as I know there are not any laptops available in the US that use these chips. The problem with these original "mobile" Duron chips is that they were basically desktop chips modified to run at 1.4Volts. These original "mobile" Durons DO NOT support PowerNow! (AMD link).

Around May, 2001, AMD announced new "mobile" Duron chips at 800 and 850 Mhz. These chips were based on the new model 7/Morgan core and among other things support PowerNow!. Our laptops were introduced in late June, early July, and are advertised as using a "mobile" Duron. However, as we have all discovered the "mobile" Duron in our laptops is not the "mobile" Duron we expected to have.

Now we know the truth. The "mobile" Duron chip in our laptops is in essence just an old model 3/Spitfire, Desktop, Duron chip modified to run at a lower voltage (1.4V). In fact you can see pictures of this chip in a dis-assembled FX210 here (thanks to Goku for these). According to my research This chip should not even exist. The only places I have found reference to its existence are a Taiwanese and  a Japanese site that show an AMD processor roadmap.On the European Sony site I have found a laptop, the FX201, that is based on the 700 Mhz Duron chip. This machine is identical to the FX210 with the exception of processor speed. I believe that Sony cheated and used this laptop with the 800 Mhz Duron and re-branded them an FX210 and then added a larger display creating the FX215.

In conclusion:

• We do technically have a "mobile" Duron chip.
• The "mobile" Duron we have is based on the model 3/Spitfire core Not the model 7/Morgan core.
• There is no PowerNow! support on the model 3/Spitfire core.

Now we know why our laptops have such poor battery life and why there is no PowerNow! support with these laptops. The big question is what do we do now? Do we live with being hoodwinked by Sony or not?

I do have some other information not pertaining to our Duron chip that I will try and get up later this week.

Oh yeah don't forget about the Discussion Forum on Yahoo.