Zosma 960T = Thuban !!!

[cezar]

Hi everybody! Great forum here

Just found on the net:

AMD Phenom II X4 960T hidden cores can be unlocked, turning it into a Phenom II X6

http://en.ocworkbench.com/tech/amd-p...-phenom-ii-x6/

Cheers!

[Sn0wm@n]

omg... yeahh... cant wait to check out the price on those

this will be a good fill the gap rig before some decent high end bulldozer platform start to come in in 2011

[theoldtimer]

Interesting, I love free stuff (six cores for the price of four)

[PatRaceTin]

yes i know this 3 month ago

now i am waiting for 960T

but it may release later than 1055T

[[XC] Oj101]

You KNEW or you suspected?

[richierich]

I'm not going to go with the 960T, just because I want all six cores to be good clockers. Six, not five, or four, lol.

[AMD-C]

The only issue I have with "unlocking" is the widespread idea that is guaranteed or even particularly likely to work, much less with reasonable temperatures, voltage and stability.

There are a bunch of people running around now who are certain in their beliefs that the different models only exist for the purpose of marketing and binning is done for fun. They make irresponsible recommendations to people who don't know better.

[crazydiamond]

omggggg

[cezar]

More info from OCW w/ screens:
http://en.ocworkbench.com/tech/exclu...to-a-x6/all/1/

[SubZero.it]

Love amd!

[initialised]

The only issue I have with "unlocking" is the widespread idea that is guaranteed or even particularly likely to work, much less with reasonable temperatures, voltage and stability.

There are a bunch of people running around now who are certain in their beliefs that the different models only exist for the purpose of marketing and binning is done for fun. They make irresponsible recommendations to people who don't know better.

At first getting X3 CPUs to unlock was very hit and miss. Now that most BIOSes actively support unlocking, the Phenom II is mature most x2 550 CPUs are binned for exceeding TDP or VID targets rather than for defective CPU core as was often the case in early 720s. With 550 it has gradually moved from a black screen fail to a need to tweak but the majority go through with no problems.

By allowing the practice to continue AMD unofficially makes the X4 B50 the best value CPU on the market. Offering near i5 750 performance for half the price, backward and forward compatibility and making a mockery of the supposedly competitive i3/i5 in any multi threaded application or game. The CPU dependence and core count scaling of popular AAA titles like BF:BC2 and L4D2 make it the obvious choice for gamers who are strapped for cash but don't want their CPU to be strapped for cache.

[informal]

Nicely said initialised

[uncle john]

At first getting X3 CPUs to unlock was very hit and miss. Now that most BIOSes actively support unlocking, the Phenom II is mature most x2 550 CPUs are binned for exceeding TDP or VID targets rather than for defective CPU core as was often the case in early 720s. With 550 it has gradually moved from a black screen fail to a need to tweak but the majority go through with no problems.

By allowing the practice to continue AMD unofficially makes the X4 B50 the best value CPU on the market. Offering near i5 750 performance for half the price, backward and forward compatibility and making a mockery of the supposedly competitive i3/i5 in any multi threaded application or game. The CPU dependence and core count scaling of popular AAA titles like BF:BC2 and L4D2 make it the obvious choice for gamers who are strapped for cash but don't want their CPU to be strapped for cache.

Really? Which 550 would you recommend; C2 or C3? How good is the 555 success rate?

Is the 960T a BE?

[Elloquin]

This is getting interesting.

[richierich]

Really? Which 550 would you recommend; C2 or C3? How good is the 555 success rate?

Is the 960T a BE?

The 550 C2 is BE, the C3 version is not.

[Arienrhode]

Any indication at all on the 940/960T pricing? I really want to upgrade to an AM3 platform and can't decide whether to try my luck with a 555, buy a 955 or just wait for Zosma parts to arrive. Grrr =/

[PaganII]

I'm waiting for a true 6 core.
My 720BE unlocked and overclocked ran benches and stress tests fine BUT... with headphones or speakers it sounded like it was electrocuting insects by the millions. Screen corruption during 3D games and desktop. This only happened when unlocked. It ran like a normal cpu when operated in the configuration it was sold as. A 720 X3. As always YMMV.

[cezar]

Just found that Zosma X4 960T is 3.0GHz with a 3.3GHz Turbo. I don't know if it's true but if it's true then Zosma's Turbo is +.3G.
Just curious - after unlocking to X6, will this Turbo be +.3G or +.4G as is in retail X6 10x0T ??? Anybody knows?

EDIT: According to this:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=280
Zosma X4 960T is 3.0GHz with a 3.4GHz Turbo. Nice

[MsB]

The 960T has 8 MBs cache. Is that missing 1 MB gonna be enough to dork it with a full 6 cores open?

[richierich]

Once the two other cores have been unlocked the other 1MB shows up.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=24259

[onTOPtheROCK]

Any indication at all on the 940/960T pricing? I really want to upgrade to an AM3 platform and can't decide whether to try my luck with a 555, buy a 955 or just wait for Zosma parts to arrive. Grrr =/

sounds like you should just wait for the zosma and try your luck. i say this because if you go for the 555 it seems like you are getting this in hopes of getting a four, hoping to unlock. and the other option is get the 965 because you know for sure that you are getting 4 cores. So if it is four cores you want, wait for the zosma and then that way if you are able to unlock it then you get a bonus. If 2 cores is what you'll be happy with then the 555 is a good cheap option.

[MsB]

wooohoooo~~~ settled than. I finally get to upgrade!

[initialised]

Any indication at all on the 940/960T pricing? I really want to upgrade to an AM3 platform and can't decide whether to try my luck with a 555, buy a 955 or just wait for Zosma parts to arrive. Grrr =/

Expecting 960T to be around £130 but there could be a bit of a wait while the 1055T and 1090T get established.

[AMD-C]

At first getting X3 CPUs to unlock was very hit and miss. Now that most BIOSes actively support unlocking, the Phenom II is mature most x2 550 CPUs are binned for exceeding TDP or VID targets rather than for defective CPU core as was often the case in early 720s. With 550 it has gradually moved from a black screen fail to a need to tweak but the majority go through with no problems.

What's your source for this? How are you determining how/why the chips are binned one way or another?

Is there some factual data behind this or is it an impression/anecdotal evidence?

My own anecdotal evidence and extensive searching for reports of success/failure on the web lead me to believe that chips "unlock" at rates of about 70% at best and of those successes, maybe half will run as an X4 at the rated X2 speeds under reasonable temps voltages.

By allowing the practice to continue AMD unofficially makes the X4 B50 the best value CPU on the market. Offering near i5 750 performance for half the price, backward and forward compatibility and making a mockery of the supposedly competitive i3/i5 in any multi threaded application or game. The CPU dependence and core count scaling of popular AAA titles like BF:BC2 and L4D2 make it the obvious choice for gamers who are strapped for cash but don't want their CPU to be strapped for cache.

Sure, X2s are great values for anyone who would be perfectly content with the chip in it's stock state, like gamers. The X4 potential would be a pure bonus, nothing more.

For anyone else, I don't believe they're a very good value and I think the only intelligent way to evaluate them is to assign an expectation to quantify the unlock potential.

For example, if we're very generous and say that every 555 has an 80% chance of performing identically to a 955 and accept that doing so will require additional cooling you're looking at 2 cores @ 3200 + 2 cores @ 3200 * 0.8 against 4 cores at 3200 plus $35 for a respectable cooler.

That works out to about 85 and 80 total clock per dollar from the 555 and 955 respectively, a mere 6% if you assume that an time/effort required to stabilize the unlock is irrelevant and the 80% success figure is accurate.