Hi,

I'm looking at building an HTPC system around an Athlon 64 3500+ AM2.

In shopping for these, I've noticed that some OPNs end in 'N' and some end in 'W' (e.g., ADA3500CNBOX vs ADA3500CWBOX)

When I check these parts at http://www.amdcompare.com, it shows the only difference is the 'Max Temp' rating (55-69 deg C for the 'N' vs. 70 deg C for the 'W'.

I'm trying to figure out what the Max Temp rating actually means? Is that the maximum environmental temperature they can operate at? The max core temperature? Or something else?

I've noticed the 'W' models generally cost a little more than the 'N' models. I guess this means the 'W' is the "better" of the two?

They are related to the physical Core than the Processor uses. One, for example, could be a Dual Core or a 1 MB Cache L2 Single Core that got some parts disabled possibily due to these being damaged in the manufactured process but that can work and be selled anyways. However, I don't know if more solid data about the CPUID or full Revision data than is used to identify them is available, so I don't know how many physically different Cores are on Socket M2. However, no matter what it uses, for practical purposes, the final user would not ever difference them.
The TCaseMax value real deffinition isn't massively understanded. It can't be the maximum temperature than the Processor may run at as the Hardware shutdown feature, the Processor last resort to save its own life before reciving physical damage due high temperatures, is activated at around 125°C, but there is no other convincing explanation.