There is nothing "concrete" about the so-called "default" setting of 2.67 Ghz in the case of a i7 920. 2.67 has no technical significance, it's just another setting on the continuum of settings from zero to infinity and in fact, the CPU has no default because Bclk is generated by the motherboard, not the CPU. The word "stability" as it's commonly used is actually a way of saying that the CPU is within it's AC limits. The AC limit is the clock value beyond which the flip flops can no longer change state fast enough to propagate the correct value (0 or 1)
to the next stage in worst case situations. Notice that there is mention of software here because any software would run properly if the CPU is within it's AC limits. Any choice of "stability tool" is strictly arbitrary because no software can create every worst case situation (aka 'race condition') inside the CPU. So there is no validity in claiming "stability" just because your CPU has run 100 passes of linpack because another program might cause your computer to crash.




Reply With Quote

Bookmarks