AMD Duron 1200 socket: Socket 462

What the Duron 1200 is

The AMD Duron 1200 is a 1200 MHz single-core desktop processor from November 2001. It runs one K7 Morgan core at 1200 MHz with no turbo, so 1 core gives 1 thread. Cache is 64 KB of full-speed L2 with 128 KB of L1 on a 180 nm process. Power is rated near 55 W in a Socket A ceramic PGA package with part number DHD1200AMT1B on a 200 MT/s front side bus with a 12x multiplier at 1.75 V.

Late Morgan clocks with SSE and prefetch keep office software smooth on old boards, which is why the 1200 at 1200 MHz stayed popular in value towers after faster Athlon XP parts arrived. AMD placed the 1200 in November 2001 with other late Morgan parts such as the 1100 MHz Duron 1100. The chip supports MMX, Enhanced 3DNow and SSE.

A 1.2 GHz clock with a higher envelope suits late Socket A towers with strong airflow and DDR memory. The 1.75 V core needs a capable clip cooler. That is why the 1200 shipped in budget performance desktops with AGP cards.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The 1200 fits Socket A late desktops with Morgan support. It needs a 462-pin board with a 200 MT/s bus and a BIOS that lists Duron Morgan 1200. The Socket vs chipset: what decides whether a CPU works guide covers pairing rules.

Late SDRAM and DDR towers are the natural match. Boards listing DHD1200AMT1B accept the chip with a 55 W cooler. Weak early boards with small power stages may throttle under the higher current, so the support list and power design decide.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

Memory is SDRAM and DDR through the board chipset, matched to the board DIMM sockets. The CPU has no memory controller, so the chipset sets the type and speed. KT266A boards commonly run DDR266 pairs with a 200 MT/s Duron bus ratio.

A 200 MT/s front side bus ties the CPU to the chipset on a 100 MHz clock, while AGP and PCI hang off the chipset. No PCIe lanes originate on the die. Cooling uses the Socket 462 lug clip with a cooler rated for 55 W. A copper base with a steady fan keeps the exposed die within limits.

Upgrade paths

On the same socket, a move to an Athlon XP 1600+ keeps the board when the support list names Thoroughbred parts with 266 MT/s paths. The Athlon XP adds full 256 KB cache and SSE paths at a new bus ratio, so the board must include the 133 MHz clock option. A Duron 1100 such as AMD Duron 1100 drops 100 MHz at lower power.

A move to Socket 754 needs a new board for on-chip DDR with HyperTransport. The Socket 462 page lists the Spitfire to Barton range for planning.