AMD To Crank Up Phenom II Clock-Speeds Upto 3.50 GHz, Planning New Models

[v_rr]

Beating its chest on the "massive headroom" (read: clock speed increment potential) its newest line of processors, the Phenom II have, it was about time the company utilized the said headroom to carve out new SKUs. With the AM2+ exclusive Phenom II X4 940 already showing impressive overclocking potential, while shipping with a clock speed of 3.00 GHz, the company is planning to increase stock clock speeds in increments of 100 MHz (0.5x multiplier) with a string of SKUs post Phenom II X4 950. This according to the insider sources a German website called AMD News caught up with.

All the upcoming processors will be built on the AM3 package, making them compatible with DDR3 and DDR2 memory standards. With the Phenom II X4 950 being clocked at 3.10 GHz, succeeding SKUs take 100 MHz steps, starting from a Phenom II X4 960 at 3.20 GHz to a Phenom II X4 990 at 3.50 GHz. Despite the high clock speeds, the chips will continue to maintain rated TDPs of 125W. At some point within the succession, AMD will crank up the HyperTransport interconnect speed from 1,800 MHz to 2,000 MHz. The launch-schedule for these processors will be spread throughout 2009.

The models in the new series consist of:

* Phenom II X4 950 (3.10 GHz, 15.5 x 200)
* Phenom II X4 960 (3.20 GHz, 16 x 200)
* Phenom II X4 970 (3.30 GHz, 16.5 x 200)
* Phenom II X4 980 (3.40 GHz, 17 x 200)
* Phenom II X4 990 (3.50 GHz, 17.5 x 200)

http://www.techpowerup.com/83608/AMD...ew_Models.html

[Shintai]

FUD I say. Specially after the 3.1Ghz new peak with 125W TDP. Not even to mention the source

11 days ago they posted this:

[Sparky]

Well no offense but you being an intel guy and AMD hater I don't care what you say

Remains to be seen. That's all. I take all news with a grain of salt.

[Syn.]

FUD I say. Specially after the 3.1Ghz new peak with 125W TDP. Not even to mention the source

and?

[Nedjo]

Well no offense but you being an intel guy and AMD hater I don't care what you say

Remains to be seen. That's all. I take all news with a grain of salt.

grain? how about truck of grains?

[Syn.]

grain? how about truck of grains?

thats getting the saying wrong, the less salt better the meaning.

[NapalmV5]

i hope it materializes.. idk what the big deal is ~3.5ghz ?

why impossible ?

[Salavat23]

100mhz difference between cpu clock speeds is stupid. They should at least do it 200mhz difference.

[Manicdan]

the funny thing about that chart posted by shintia, they wont have a C4 stepping for another 2 years, and C3 until late this year. sorry but i dont believe that. and this is all speculation on how AMD will spend numbers above 950, sure they gave themselves headroom to use higher numbers for better chips, but i doubt they have a solid plan for the next 2 years of this chip when its been out for a month and they JUST announced the 3.1ghz

[Sly Fox]

i hope it materializes.. idk what the big deal is ~3.5ghz ?

why impossible ?

Exactly. 3.5 seems pretty reasonable based on what we've seen of PhII thus far.

I could see AMD not doing it solely to avoid provoking Intel retaliation, but who knows.

[ownage]

It's not unusual for AMD to bring out CPU's that run on the edge, if you look at previous generations.

It actually doesn't really matter if you ask me.
Stock 3.5ghz or 3.0ghz, I would overclock it anyway.
A black edition has unlocked upwards multiplier so the higher multipliers are also not important to me.

[informal]

While this is not quite probable(at least the top model),the very 3.5Ghz frequency is just 16% over stock 3Ghz clock of the 940 and just 12% over the upcoming 3.1Ghz 950 model.So with process tweaks ,I say it's not impossible that AMD can crank 12% more clocks while remaining within the same TDP envelope(3.1Ghz x 1.12=3.5GHz,same TDP with more mature process technology).
If they manage the 3.5Ghz/125W ,then AMD will have the needed chip to compete with i7 940,leaving only the 965 as the top chip without a direct competitor from green team.

[Ozzfest05]

I think they can do it I also believe intel can release a core 2 duo clocked at 4ghz so far all I see is good competition in the future man I love it cant wait to see price drops with AMD continually getting better

[Manicdan]

translated source of his source's source

http://translate.google.com/translat...istory_state0=

[G0ldBr1ck]

PhII already fits in the 125w TDP at 3.5 all they need to work on is getting all of them to run 3.5ghz at <1.3v

[Calmatory]

The actual power consumption is nowhere near 125W. The stock cooler is rated for such power consumption for some reason, possibly due to these new SKU's or due to stock cooler overclocking.

[Rammsteiner]

Ugh, 3.5Ghz isnt an issue for PhII. Although Ive to admit it's stupid for OC'ers to get one, unless there are other improvements.

However, 3.5Ghz is no issue at all And people who dont OC will be quite attracted by this as well.

[Nedjo]

PhII already fits in the 125w TDP at 3.5 all they need to work on is getting all of them to run 3.5ghz at <1.3v

it's not exactly "all of them", but yeah it should be as many as possible! Like always the key is in yield... all chip manufacturers make pick on given frequency based on satisfying yield...

[Starscream]

doubt it.
5 models ranging from 3.1 to 3.5? come on.

[FlanK3r]

Nice...Im waiting to summer for any BE chip

[JohnJohn]

doubt it.
5 models ranging from 3.1 to 3.5? come on.

Yes it is plain stupid, Amd should ditch the 3.1 one, and go 3.2 then 3.4 and then 3.6

[duploxxx]

FUD I say. Specially after the 3.1Ghz new peak with 125W TDP. Not even to mention the source

11 days ago they posted this:

i7 920 is also 130W tdp yet there are higher clocked versions in same range...

http://ark.intel.com/cpu.aspx?groupID=37147



next 925 is already in reduced 95W tdp range thx to new stepping, so i am sure there is more headroom.

[Brother Esau]

I have 2 Phenom II 940 BE one does 3.5ghz @ stock and the other 3.6@stock vcore. Seeing how this is a consistent pattern from what the majority experiences I would say its very doable

[freeloader]

100mhz difference between cpu clock speeds is stupid. They should at least do it 200mhz difference.

I think that really depends on the price difference. For us overclockers it's pretty much a joke, but give the average Joe Sixpack a choice between 3.1ghz or 3.2ghz for say a $10 - $15 dollar difference, they'll bite at the higher speed. It's no cost difference for AMD to produce the 3.1 or 3.2 chip, so they can easily pocket the extra $$$ and God knows they need every single penny they can earn.

[Tonucci]

Shaping up fine for AMD

Seems like they will be more competitive up to mid/high end than their last gen.