AMD Duron Is Dead, Long Live AMD Sempron
Introduction
The AMD Duron, the low-end counterpart to the Socket A AMD Athlon and Athlon XP, is finally extinct. Originally discontinued as a desktop processor in early 2002, AMD revived the processor for low-cost systems in the late summer of 2003. However, this time the Duron is really gone for good. Its replacement, the AMD Sempron, has a name that is reminiscent of its rival, the Intel Celeron. That's no coincidence. Just as the Intel Celeron has been a reduced-feature variant of the Pentium II, Pentium III, and Pentium 4 during its long history, some versions of the AMD Sempron are cut-down versions of the Athlon XP, while others are based on the Athlon 64. Thus, like the Celeron, Sempron is not so much a chip design as a brand.
In this article, you learn about the features of various Sempron models Sempron's features, how Sempron compares to other AMD processors, and how you can use it in system upgrades or new system building.